ABSTRACT
The economic reforms and opening in Heilongjiang Province have integrated the province's economy into the north-east Asian regional economy, creating structures of interdependence, and subjecting the province to the boom-and-bust cycles of trade with neighboring Primorskii Krai in Russia. Heilongjiang enthusiastically pursued the economic-opening policies, positioning itself as the entrepot to the lucrative Russian market and attracting Hong Kong investment with its policy of “link with the south, open to the north” (nan lian bei kai). This has made Heilongjiang a marketing center for a Natural Economic Territory (NET) that spans the north-east Asian region. Although the provincial government attempts to manage this regional economy, the NET's economic space extends far beyond the political space of the provincial government.
