For instance, officials in Wuhan, an industrial city, have given tax breaks to anybody who buys cars made in the local car plant.

ECONOMIST: Is there any point in manufacturing cars in China?

Such is liquidity in this market that a cash-strapped hotel in the central city of Wuhan reportedly decided to use the coupons as part-payment for a decorating job.

ECONOMIST: One derivatives market still thrives

He grew up in the villages outside the city of Wuhan, and left school as a teen-ager for a job walking the tracks with a hammer and a gauge.

NEWYORKER: Boss Rail

For example, the city government in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, has recently built a new exhibition hall.

BBC: The rise of China��s secondary cities

He traveled to China four years ago and discovered an indie rock scene in Wuhan, a grimy industrial city of more than 8 million people, where he now owns a club with a Chinese partner.

NPR: China's Latest Export: Anti-Establishment Music

So to replace Wuhan's grimy old industries, the city is doing its best to encourage new, higher-tech, innovative firms.

BBC: Can Wuhan's state-owned giants adapt?