Provinces in Northeast China are expected to get more policy support to revive their economies, after the nation’s top economic regulator decided to link up the region with the more developed southern region.

Southern provinces will be encouraged to provide financial support, share experiences and increase economic cooperation to help rejuvenate the Northeastern region in the country, according to guidelines issued by the National Development and Reform Commission on March 30.

The NDRC has linked Heilongjiang province with Guangdong province, Jilin province with Zhejiang province and Liaoning province with Jiangsu province.

Guangdong will be encouraged to build a State-owned financing platform along with Heilongjiang, to provide financial support to help restructure the latter’s economy.

Enterprises in robotics, clean energy equipment, bio-pharmaceuticals, graphite and other emerging industries in Heilongjiang will be given more policy support to participate in the development in Guangdong as well as in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, according to the guidelines.

Enterprises will be encouraged to issue bonds and asset securitization products at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the guidelines said.

The guidelines came after the NDRC established platforms earlier this year to help expand the financing channels to boost the economy of the Northeast, as part of efforts to dispel fears of a worsening business environment in the region.

More than 40 financial institutions, including State-owned banks and private securities companies, will hold meetings in the region on a regular basis. The financial institutions will also help enterprises in the Northeast with more financing channels and identify financial risks.

Wu Xiaohua, deputy head of the Academy of Macroeconomic Research under the NDRC, said the Northeast needs to find new bright spots and quicken the pace to upgrade economic structure.