The city of Shenyang, on the Liaoning Peninsula, is the capital of Liaoning province and an economic, cultural, transportation, commerce and trade center for China's Northeast. It covers a 13,000-square-kilometer area and has a population of 8.29 million.

Its history goes back at least 2,300 years and it is known as the birthplace of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), which was the capital of two Qing emperors. It contains an Imperial Palace, which is on the UNESCO's World Heritage List, along with the Fuling Tomb of Nurhachi, the founding emperor of Qing, and Zhao Mausoleum of Huang Taiji, the second emperor of Qing. It also contains the mansion of Chang Tso-lin, a famous general during the late Qing who had a great influence on early modern China and more than 1,000 relics.

The city played a key role in China's first Five-Year Plan (1953-1957) and is a base for equipment manufacturing and armaments, with many 1st-place titles in Chinese industrial production, for example, its first jet fighter, machine tools, centrifugal compressor, 500 KV EHV transformer, CT scanner, and deep-water robot. And it has taken full use of the early reforms and opening-up starting three decades ago, and the national strategy, to revitalize the Northeast.

It has made great strides in equipment manufacturing and its NC machine tools. Its extra high voltage transformers have a large market share and are among the world's Top 10. Many of its enterprises are industrial leaders in modern services and technology and its agriculture is improving rapidly. It has many specialized industrial zones -- for example, the West Shenyang Industrial Corridor, East Shenyang Auto Industrial Cluster, and Aviation High-tech Industrial Base, where the focus is on advanced equipment manufacturing; the North Shenyang New Area, for agricultural product processing; the Hunnan New Area, with the focus on high-tech, strategic, emerging industries; Qipanshan Mountain International Scenic Spot, with a focus on tourism, culture, and creativity; and the Metropolitan Central Corridor, where the focus is on modern services. Its industrial expansion continues, giving it a new urban look. It also has many industrial titles, including "National Environmental Protection City", and "National Forest City" and has ranked among China's Top 10 cities in competitiveness for many years.

Shenyang has seven neighboring cities within an hour's drive -- Anshan, Fushun, Benxi, Yingkou, Liaoyang, Tieling, and Fuxin – in each of which the focus is on basic industries and processing, resulting in an urban cluster of 75,000-sq–km that is known as the "Shenyang Economic Zone", with 24 million people. The State Council has designated the area a "pilot for reforming industrialization" so it expects to have the greatest development potential in China this century and to be an economic power in Northeast Asia and to be competitive internationally. It has a larger revitalization plan for not only its own old industrial bases but also the province's that have attracted a lot of investor interest from all over, and has many Fortune 500 enterprises, such as the US's GM, Germany's BMW, Michelin from France, and Japan's Yamanouchi. By late 2013, the city had trade partnerships with 182 countries and foreign trade worth more than $14.34 billion, with exports at $7 billion. More than 98 countries and regions have invested in Shenyang and it also has many new overseas projects, with contracts worth as much as $1.52 billion.

So, Shenyang indeed has great industrial potential and the Economic Zone holds many business opportunities, with 100 key investment projects in machine tools, electric power, construction, auto parts, opto-electronic information, culture, creativity, aviation, and agricultural processing already in place. It will do everything it can to provide a good environment for economic development, excellent services, strong support systems, and lower costs for investors so everyone can share the benefits of the revitalization of this old industrial city.