the shenyang number one machine tool works began as the mitsubishi machines company. ter the 1949 communist revolution, the infrastructure here secured shenyang's continuing role as a base of industry. capital, equipment and technical assistance flowed from the chinese central government and the soviet union. it was the era of the iron rice bowl. under the planned economy, state-owned enterprises were assigned workers, whether they needed them or not, and workers were assured lifetime employment and pensions, regardless of factory output. but factories were often poorly run, sometimes by people with strong party controls and contacts, but who lacked technical or managerial skills. ultimately, central investment dried up. the factories went into debt, and today many state-owned enterprises limp along with a redundant work force, outmoded equipment, poor management, and an outdated production system. man: this is really what we refer to as china's rust belt, and it's the equivalent of cities like pittsburgh or cleveland, say, 20 years ago in the united states. in fact, t