Thousands of large and medium-sized state-run industrial enterprises have been set up in the resource-rich Northeast China since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
However, hundreds went bankrupt during 1990s due to political reasons and flawed economic policy from 1960s to 1980s.
In October 2003, the central government launched a project to rejuvenate industrial bases across the nation, including those in the northeast.