On January 25, the Information Office of Liaoning Provincial People’s Government held the fifth press conference of the series on the economic performance of Liaoning in 2023, presenting a comprehensive overview and major achievements in the province’s business sector in 2023.

In 2023, the total retail sales of consumer goods in Liaoning reached 1,036.21 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.8%, surpassing the national average by 1.6 percentage points. Liaoning has achieved an impressive year-on-year increase of 16% in realized capital through investment promotion, with a total of 3.38 billion US dollars in actual foreign investment utilized. The province’s total import and export value amounted to 765.96 billion yuan, with exports reaching 353.56 billion yuan and imports totaling 412.4 billion yuan. Trade with Japan and South Korea amounted to 153.53 billion yuan, experiencing a growth rate of 2.5%. Additionally, trade with Russia amounted to 54.9 billion yuan, showing a significant growth of 53%. Overall, the province’s foreign trade remained stable.

Last year, Liaoning hosted four large-scale economic and trade promotion events, effectively advancing over 70 major foreign investment projects, including BMW, Saudi Aramco, SK Hynix, CJ, and China Resources. The 4th Liaoning International Fair for Investment and Trade was successfully held, with 271 on-site signed projects and a total contract value of 586.34 billion yuan, setting a record high compared to previous sessions.

To promote high-level opening-up, Liaoning organized the participation of enterprises in the Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair and the China-Russia Expo, with on-site and intended transactions worth 57.9 million yuan and 3.14 billion yuan, respectively. The China-Russia (Shenyang) Economic and Trade Cooperation Industrial Park attracted 37 signed projects. Moreover, the first China-Russia Conference on Local Investment Development and Trade Cooperation was successfully held, with a total contract value of 7 billion yuan, furthering the efforts to enhance northward opening-up.

Furthermore, Liaoning organized the participation of more than 200 companies in prominent events such as the China International Fair for Investment and Trade, China-ASEAN Expo, China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, and China-Arab States Expo. It also facilitated company visits to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, resulting in 35 negotiation projects and the expansion of multidimensional economic cooperation with foreign countries. At the same time, efforts were made to promote the construction of the Sea-Land Corridor, open new routes for the China-Europe Railway Express at Tongjiang Railway Port, and establish a new international transit route of “Thailand-Shenyang-Moscow”, creating more than 30 additional railway routes. The number of trips made by China-Europe Railway Express continued to rank first in the northeastern region.