3.9.2001

SHAANXI PROVINCE（陝西省）

 

Economic Indicators

	1999		2000
Economic Indicators	Value	Growth	Value	Growth
		(%, y-o-y)		(%, y-o-y)
Area (sq km)	205,800	--	205,800	--
Population (mn)	36.2	0.6	36.1^
Gross Domestic Product (RMB bn)	148.8	8.4*	166.1	9.0*
Per Capita GDP (RMB)	4,101	4.2
Disposable Income Per Capita
- urban (RMB)	4,654	10.3	5,124	10.1
- rural (RMB)	1,456	3.6	1,470	1.0
Fixed-assets Investment (RMB bn)	47.8	5.0	52.9	10.7
Added Value Output
- primary industry (RMB bn)	26.7	-5.0	27.9	4.5
- secondary industry (RMB bn)	63.3	6.9	73.2	15.6
- tertiary industry (RMB bn)	58.1	8.2	65.0	11.9
Retail Sales (RMB bn)	55.7	7.5	60.8	9.1
Inflation (Consumer Price Index,%)	-2.2		-0.5
Exports (US$ bn)	1.0	-6.9	1.3	30.3
- by FIEs (US$ bn)	0.09	-19.6	0.12	33.3
Imports (US$ bn)	1.1	3.5	1.1	0.2
- by FIEs (US$ bn)	0.2	-0.1	0.2	-0.4
Foreign Direct Investment
- number of projects	157	-19.9	215	36.9
- contracted amount (US$ bn)	0.4	13.6	0.5	17.0
- utilized amount (US$ bn)	0.2	-19.4	0.3	19.2

Notes : * In Renminbi real terms             

^ Latest population census, 1999 figure was estimate based on previous survey.

Sources: Statistical Yearbook of Shaanxi and State Statistical Bureau, China Statistical Abstract

 

General Background

 

Shaanxi - abbreviated as Shaan（陝）or Qing（秦）- is situated in the Northwest region.  The province is divided into three sections - the Northern Shaanxi Plateau（陝北高原）, the Guanzhong Plain（關中平原）and the Qinba Mountainous Region（秦巴山地）.  The provincial capital is Xi'an（西安）which enjoys the same preferential policies as a coastal open city.

 

The northern part of Shaanxi has abundant reserves of coal, natural gas and petroleum.  Shenmu（神木）and Fugu（府谷）are major production bases of fine quality coal in China with a total deposits of more than 160 billion tons.  Natural gas reserves proven in Shaanxi reaches 200 billion cubic metres.  The province is also rich in metal and non-metallic mineral reserves.  Among the 91 kinds of minerals found in Shaanxi, 27 have reserves that are ranked among the top three in China.

 

With one of the most fertile plains - Weihei Plain（渭河平原）- in western China, Shaanxi grows a wide range of agricultural products such as grains, cereals, cotton, tobacco and fruits.  In 2000, output of apples in Shaanxi ranked the top in China, accounting for 1/5 of the nation’s total production. 

 

Infrastructure

 

Railways － Major railway lines linking up Shaanxi and other provinces include Lanzhou-Lianyungang（蘭州－連雲港）, Baoji-Chengdu（寶雞－成都）, Yangpingguan-Ankang（陽平關－安康）, Baoji-Zhongwei（寶雞－中衛）and Xi'an-Ankang（西安－安康）.  Xi'an cargo railway station is one of the top-grade stations in China, handling 36 million tons of cargoes annually. 

 

To accelerate the development of Western China, new railways including Xi'an-Hefei line（安徽－合肥）and Baoji-Lanzhou （寶雞－蘭州）line will be constructed. Major sections of the Xi’an-Nanjing line（西安－南京線）is also under construction  With the completion of Baoji-Lanzhou line, the travel time between Shaanxi and Gansu is estimated to shorten from 9 hours to 5.5 hours.

 

Highways － Xi'an is the pivot of highways in the province.  Major highways include Xi'an-Lintong（西安－臨潼）, Xi'an-Baoji（西安－寶雞）and Xi'an-Tongchuan（西安－銅川）and a new highway between Tonggua（潼關）and Baoji is under construction.

 

To further improve the overall accessibility of the province, the provincial government will invest a total of Rmb52.3 billion in roads and highways in the 10^th Five-Year Plan.  Total road length of the province will increase by 4,000 kilometres to 48,000 kilometres by the end of 2005.

 

Air Transport － Xi'an Xi’anyang International Airport（西安咸陽國際機場）has more than 95 domestic lines to major cities in China and international air routes to Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and European countries.  During the 10^th Five-Year Plan, expansion and reconstruction works will be taken in a number of domestic airports at Hanzhong, An'kang, Yan'an and Yulin to improve air transportation in the province.

 

Telecommunications － By the end of 2000, the number of fixed-line telephone subscribers, pager users and mobile phone users reached 3.5 million, 1.5 million and 1.5 million respectively. There are nearly 200,000 internet users as well. In addition to the nine main optic-fibre trunks with a total length of 7,319 kilometres, Shaanxi’s telecommunication network is supplemented with satellite systems and inter-exchange stations.

 

Energy Supply － At present, Shaanxi has 0.67 million kW installed capacity for power generation.  In view of the abundant supply of coal, oil, natural gas and hydropower in Shaanxi, the government plans to construct a number of power plants to raise the electricity generation capacity to 1.0 million kW by 2005.  A total of nine stations using coal, hydropower and natural gas will be built.  Besides, a new oil pipeline (Lanzhou-Chengdu-Chongqing) will be constructed to transmit oil from the northwest region to the southeast region.  The pipeline will pass through 30 counties and cities in Gansu, Shaanxi and Chongqing with an annual oil transmission capacity of more than 5 million tons and is expected to operate in June 2002. 

 

Industries

 

In 2000, the added value of industrial output in Shaanxi increased by 9.6% over 1999 to reach Rmb55.1 billion.  In the 10^th Five-Year Plan, Shaanxi development targets will focus on five sectors : hi-tech, fruit production and processing, energy, military technology and tourism. 

 

Xi’an, one of the strong electronic industrial bases in China, has become an IT powerhouse since the implementation of the opening and reform policy.  In 2000, over 90% of the province’s software enterprises were located in Xi’an, generating a sales income of Rmb3.2 billion.  Xi’an has also become the largest Internet data centre in Northwest China with over 1,000 servers and an investment of Rmb5 million to facilitate the development of its IT industry. 

 

Under the “Military-to-Civilian” initiative, a number of military enterprises in Xi’an have converted their technologies and production capacities to develop and produce products for commercial purpose.  Marked examples include the Xi’an Aircraft Co., Xi’an-Volvo Automobiles and Shaanxi Changling Refrigeration.

 

Tourism

 

Shaanxi has abundant cultural and historical relics that can be explored to develop tourism.  There are 72 tombs of kings and emperors in Xi'an, including the Qingshihuang's terra-cotta army（秦始皇兵馬俑）which is highly praised as the eighth world wonder.  Other famous historical relics include the site of Lantian Ape Man（藍田猿人遺址）, Xi'an Forest of Steles（西安碑林）, Wild Goose Pagoda（大雁塔）, Famen Temple（法門寺）, Huaqing Pool（華清池）, etc.  The province also has magnificent scenery with beautiful mountains such as Taibai Mountain（太白山）, Huashan Mountain（華山） and Lishan Mountain（驪山）.

 

As a result of extensive marketing programmes like tourist fairs and improvements in tourism facilities such as hotels, Shaanxi recorded considerable growth in its tourism industry in recent years.  In 2000, over 710,000 tourists (+12.7%) visited the region and generated revenue of US$280 million, an increase of 3.7% over 1999.

 

Consumer Market

 

In 2000, retail sales of consumer goods in Shaanxi increased by 9.1% to Rmb60.8 billion.  Major department stores and shopping centers in Shaanxi include Xi'an Minsheng Group（西安民生集團股份有限公司）and Xi'an Jiefang Department Store（西安解放百貨大樓股份有限公司）with total sales of Rmb859 million and Rmb725 million recorded in 1999 respectively, amongst the first 50^th departments stores with largest sales in the country.

 

Apart from department stores, chain stores and supermarkets have also expanded rapidly in the province.  In 2000, Shaanxi Haixing Supermarket （陝西海星連鎖超級市場有限公公司）which operates 46 supermarket outlets recorded a sales revenue of Rmb179 million that ranked 34th among all supermarket chains in China.

 

Science and Technology

 

Shaanxi ranks third in terms of overall R&D capability after Beijing and Shanghai.  It has more than 2,000 science and technology research institutes, of which 50 are recognized as reaching the advanced level in the country.  Besides, it has 10 key national labs and 50 specialized labs under government agencies.  The province's research capabilities are particularly strong in military, space and agricultural technology.  Output from hi-tech industry reached Rmb10.2 billion in 2000. 

 

To accelerate development of hi-tech industries in the 10^th Five-Year Plan period, five research and production bases will be established with focuses on the following sectors: digital electrical appliances, computer and network products, mobile telecommunications, electronic accessories and parts, and electronic products.  Through cooperation with the research institutes like Xi’an Jiaotung University（西安交通大學）, Northwest Polytechnic University（西北工業大學）and Northwest University（西北大學）, the government will establish a software park in Xi'an Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone（XDZ, 西安高新技術產業開發區）to enhance the development of computer software industry.

 

Foreign Trade

 

In 2000, Shaanxi's exports increased sharply by 30.3% to US$1.3 billion, of which exports of electrical products/machinery and garments soared by 49% and 69% respectively.  The province's major exports included textiles, garments, machinery, electronic components and devices and medicinal raw materials, and its major export markets were Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Iran.

 

Imports increased slightly by 0.2% to US$1.1 billion in 2000.  Major import items included synthetic fibre, machinery, chemicals and pharmaco-raw material, electronic equipment and instruments, ferrous and non-ferrous metal.  Major import sources were Japan, Hong Kong, the US, Germany and the UK.

 

Hong Kong was the major trading partner of Shaanxi.  The total amount of goods exports to Hong Kong reached US$208 million in 1999 (+ 17.7%), the largest among all trading partners.

 

Foreign Investment

 

In 2000, Fujian approved 215 foreign-invested projects (+36.9%) with contracted foreign capital of US$500 million (+17.0%). The province actually utilized US$288 million in that year. By the end of 2000, Shaanxi had a total number of 2,357 foreign companies with a cumulative investment of US$4.5 billion.   Multinational corporations like Philips, Coca-Cola, Mitishbish Electric Power Equipments Co. Ltd and Siemens have established joint ventures in Shaanxi.

 

In the coming years, foreign investments are encouraged to invest in infrastructure, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, metallurgy, machinery and electronics, food processing and building materials. 

 

To boost the development of the central and western regions in China, the State Council has granted further tax incentives to foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in China.  Beginning from January 2001, foreign-invested enterprises in the central and western regions would enjoy another three years of preferential tax rate at 15% on top of the existing preferential treatment (exemption of profit tax for the first two years and 50% reduction for three years thereafter).  The tax rate can be further reduced to 10% when an enterprise is proved to export more than 70% of its annual output in terms of value.

 

Economic Indicators of Major Cities (1999)

 

			Total Value of
Cities	Population	GDP	Industrial Output	Retail Sales
	('000)	(Rmb bn)	(Rmb bn)	(Rmb bn)
Xi'an            西安	6,745	60.9	36.9	29.8
Xi’anyang     咸陽	4,795	21.1	17.8	4.8
Baoji            寶雞	3,567	18.3	12.4	5.2
Weinan        渭南	5,220	15.2	9.1	3.9
Hanzhong    漢中	3,649	13.8	6.7	3.9
Yan'an         延安	1,939	7.9	6.0	1.9
Tongchan     銅川	825	3.9	2.9	1.3

Source: Statistical Yearbook of Shaanxi

 

Major Economic & Technological Development Zones (ETDZs)

 

The Guanzhong hi-tech industrial belt in Shaanxi was set up in 1999 which consists of Xi'an, Baoji industrial development zones and the Yangling agricultural high-tech experimental zone.  In 2000, the Guanzhong hi-tech industrial belt achieved total earning of Rmb37 billion, up 23% over the previous year. 

 

1.        Xi'an Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone（XDZ, 西安高新技術產業開發區）, is one of the state-level development zones.  XDZ is also one of the four members in China which first joined the industrial park network open to APEC members.  It mainly engages in the fields of electronic information, electro-mechanic integration, high efficient and energy-saving refrigeration technology and biomedical industry etc.  By the end of 1999, there were 900 foreign-invested companies in the zone with registered capital exceeding Rmb4 billion.  Eleven companies on the Fortune 500 such as IBM, Philips and Intel have set up their establishment and research centres in the zone.

 

2.        Baoji Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone（寶雞高新技術產業開發區）, another state-level development zone, focuses on the development of electronic information technology, integral electromechanical products, composite materials of rare metals and metal fibers and magnetic materials.

 

3.        Yangling Hi-tech Agricultural Development Experimental Zone（楊陵農業高新技術產業開發區）, mainly focuses on bio-engineering research activities and new agricultural technology development.

 

Other economic development zones in Shaanxi include:

 

1.        Xi’anyang Hi-tech Development Experimental Zone（咸陽高新技術產業開發區）, mainly develops textile, electronic components and electronic products.

 

2.        Weinan Hi-tech Development Experimental Zone（渭南高新技術產業開發區）, mainly engages in fine chemical products such as catalysts, reagents, sensitive medicines, cohesive agents plastic and additives. 

 

3.        Xi'an Economic and Technological Development Zone（西安經濟技術開發區）, mainly targets at developing light industry, food processing, machinery manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, etc. 

 

4.        Xi'an Qujiang Tourism & Holiday Resort（西安曲江旅遊度假區）