Liaoning province is deeply integrated into the Belt and Road Initiative, keeping sea and land passages open, and forging a new frontier of opening-up, its Party chief said on Aug 4.

"As a number of high-level institutional innovations continue to be launched, Liaoning, which has made concerted efforts in reform, opening-up, and innovation, is marching forward with optimism," Zhang Guoqing, Party secretary of Liaoning, said at a news conference in Shenyang.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, Liaoning has made solid progress in overall revitalization. Today's Liaoning is more open, inclusive, dynamic, and creative, said Zhang.

Liaoning, which faces Japan and the Korean Peninsula across the Yellow Sea, is the only dual land and sea gateway in northeastern China. It is also one of the most convenient transit hubs in Northeast Asia.

"The new Lydia plant can be transformed to fully produce electric vehicles on its flexible manufacturing lines, according to market demand," Jochen Goller, president, and CEO of BMW Group Region China, said early this June.

The 15 billion yuan ($2.23 billion) Lydia plant is emblematic of the great changes that have occurred in the province over the past decade. Since 2010, BMW Brilliance has invested around 83 billion yuan in Shenyang, making the northeastern city the largest production base for BMW in the world.

According to Zhang, the province is accelerating the development of digital and intelligent manufacturing and aims to make new breakthroughs in all-around vitalization.

In the past decade, international cooperation has expanded in the province at a faster pace.

Since its establishment in 2017, the China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone has made a number of innovations at the institutional level. Among the innovations, 13 were replicated and promoted across the country.

Zhang emphasized the leading role of two major cities in the province－Shenyang and Dalian.

Dalian is the core city of the province's opening-up and coastal economic belt, which combines six coastal cities on the Liaodong Peninsula: Dandong, Dalian, Yingkou, Panjin, Jinzhou, and Huludao.

In 2021, the six cities had an economic aggregate of 1.35 trillion yuan. Their import and export volume increased by 10.9 percent and accounted for 70.2 percent of the province's total.

"For Northeast China, the coastal belt in Liaoning is an important outlet to the outside world, as well as an important support for new breakthroughs in its vitalization and development," said Hu Yuting, deputy Party chief of Liaoning, who is also Dalian's Party chief.

Hu said it is also a major historic opportunity for Dalian. The city will accelerate the construction of the international shipping center of Northeast Asia, build the forefront of reform and opening-up, and accelerate high-quality economic development.