Chinese rust-belt city Hegang gambles on new airport, Russian trade to fuel revival
a rust-belt city near China's northeastern border with Russia, marks a high-stakes effort at economic revival in a place better known for its cheap housing – where homes once sold for as little as 20,000 yuan (US$2,790), analysts said.
Advertisement
The initiative is part of a broader effort to revive the city's economy after years of stagnant growth, industrial decline and a shrinking population. Hegang's local population has dropped from about 1.1 million in the 2010s to 850,000 today, while its GDP decreased from 40.92 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion) in 2022 to 38.02 billion in 2024, according to official data.
Earlier this month, Hegang announced via its official WeChat account that construction on Luobei Airport would begin soon. The airport – backed by an estimated investment of 1.2 billion yuan – is scheduled to open in 2027.
Once completed, it is expected to accommodate 450,000 passengers and 1,600 tonnes of cargo annually, with a 2,500-metre runway and a 5,008-square-metre terminal, the local government said on July 1.
'Hegang's airport is emblematic of how many small and mid-sized cities are trying to seek breakthroughs through the country's new round of infrastructure,' said David Wong, a lecturer at Hang Seng University in Hong Kong, who has researched the link between air transport and regional inequality.
Advertisement
He added that the new airport could bring practical benefits, as areas with inadequate air links face enormous challenges in catching up with better-connected urban regions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Washington China hawks slam US approval of H20 chip sales
Washington China hawks are slamming the approval by US President Donald Trump's administration of resumption of the sale of Nvidia's downgraded H20 AI chip to China, questioning the move's rationale and whether it was part of the June London trade deal between the two countries, as the administration claims. Trump banned the sale of the Nvidia chip, designed to avoid export control restrictions imposed by President Joe Biden's administration, in April as the trade war between the two global powers escalated. The decision was rescinded this month after Trump met with Nvidia chief Jensen Huang before leaving for China. China and the US agreed in the June deal on the easing of some US export controls in exchange for access to Chinese rare earth minerals. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was part of the London negotiation team, told CNBC in an on July 15 that the H20 chip was put 'in the trade deal with the magnets'. 'We don't sell them our best stuff, not our second best stuff, not even our third best. The fourth one down, we want to keep China using it,' he said, adding, 'you want to sell the Chinese enough that their developers get addicted to the American technology stack.' The same day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg the H20 sale resumption 'was all part of a mosaic'. Bessent had told US lawmakers in June there was 'no quid pro quo' involving chips in exchange for rare earths. The Treasury Department did not respond a request for comment on the apparent inconsistency.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Sanctioned German China expert visits Beijing in sign of easing restrictions
The head of a German think tank sanctioned by Beijing four years ago has returned from a trip to China, suggesting that travel restrictions on the organisation may be easing. Mikko Huotari, the executive director of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics) was in Beijing from July 14 to 17, after being invited by a leading Chinese think tank. Merics was among the European institutions hit with travel bans and asset freezes in March 2021, in retaliation for EU sanctions on Chinese officials accused of perpetrating human rights violations in Xinjiang, charges it denies. The news comes on the eve of a high-stakes EU-China summit . It also comes the week after Beijing further loosened its restrictions on members of the European Parliament, suggesting the Chinese government may be trying to improve the mood music ahead of an event that has been mired in negativity. 'We welcome the easing of travel restrictions and hope that more engagement between researchers and think tankers will be possible in the future. We look forward to future opportunities to engage with our Chinese counterparts whether in China, at MERICS or elsewhere in Europe,' Merics said in a statement. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas hold the 13th round of China-EU High-level Strategic Dialogue in Brussels, Belgium, on July 2. Photo: Xinhua One of Europe's largest China-focused think tanks, Merics researchers have been unable to travel to China for four years and EU leaders and officials have repeatedly called on Beijing to remove the sanctions.
South China Morning Post
5 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Chinese hacking groups are behind SharePoint attacks, Microsoft says
Microsoft accused Chinese state-sponsored hackers of using flaws in its SharePoint document management software in a hacking campaign that has targeted businesses and government agencies around the world. In a blog post on Tuesday, the tech giant identified two groups supported by the Chinese government, Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, as leveraging flaws in SharePoint software used by customers who managed it on their own networks, as opposed to in the cloud. Another hacking group based in China, which Microsoft calls Storm-2603, also exploited the SharePoint vulnerabilities, according to the blog. 'Investigations into other actors also using these exploits is still ongoing,' Microsoft said. 'With the rapid adoption of these exploits, Microsoft assesses with high confidence that threat actors will continue to integrate them into their attacks.' In a statement, the Chinese embassy said China firmly opposes all forms of cyberattacks and cybercrime. 'At the same time, we also firmly oppose smearing others without solid evidence,' said the statement.
