Along with its nearby cities, Shenyang is an important industrial centre in China, and serves as the transportation and commercial hub of China's northeast—particularly with Japan, Russia, and Korea. A center of heavy industry in China since the 1930s, and the spearhead of the Chinese central government's Northeast Area Revitalization Plan, the city has been diversifying its industry and now has a solid industrial foundation, a good land and air transport network, abundant natural resources, and a skilled workforce.