|
About Qingdao, China
Qingdao - An important coastal city in the east of China
Qingdao is a key economic center and open coastal city in China. It is famous for its cultural heritage and eye-catching scenery for tourists. Qingdao is one of the fourteen open coastal cities and one of the eight cities authorized for international conferences in the country. Qingdao is one of China's main ports for foreign trade. Qingdao serves as an important base for ocean research in China.
Geographic location and natural environment
Qingdao is located at the southern tip of the Shandong Peninsula (35°35' ~ 37°09'N, 119°30'~ 121°00'E). A unique blend of sea and mountains and a pleasant climate make Qingdao extraordinary. Qingdao has a total coastline (including its islands) of 870 kilometers, 730 kilometers of which are continental coastline, ranking fourth in Shandong. Qingdao has 7 urban districts and 5 county-level cities under its jurisdiction, covering a total area of 10,654 square kilometers and the area has a population of 7,066,500. The urban area measures 1,102 square kilometers and the urban residents total 2,346,000. Qingdao lies in the north temperate zone and has a temperate monsoon climate. Under the direct influence of the southeastern monsoon and the sea tides, the urban area of the city has marked marine climatic features - humid air, mild temperature and clear-cut seasons. In spring, the weather becomes warmer slowly, usually one month later than the inland areas. It is humid and rainy in summer, and cool and dry in autumn. Winter here is long. It is usually windy and frigid.
Historical evolution
As the birthplace of Taoism, Qingdao has a long history. Human settlement on this soil dates back 6,000 years. In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BC), the town of Jimo was established, which was then the second largest in Shandong region. After unifying China in 221 BC, Ying Zheng, the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, climbed to the top of Mount Langyatai three times in the south of the present city of Jiaonan. Dispatched by Ying Zheng, Xu Fu, an official of the Qing Dynasty, began his voyage with a fleet at the foot of Mount Langyatai and sailed eastbound to Korea and Japan. Liu Che, an emperor of the Han Dynasty (206 BC- AD220) held sacrificial rites at the Jiaomen Palace in Mount Buqi, which is in today's Chengyang District of Qingdao. He also ordered 9 temples to be constructed in Mount Nugu along the Jiaozhou Bay, to worship heaven and his ancestors. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, Qingdao had grown into a prosperous town which used to be called Jiao'ao.
The establishment of Qingdao began on June 14, 1891, when the Qingdao government sent in troops. In November 1897, Germany occupied Qingdao by force on the pretext of the Juye litigation over religious disputes. When the First World War broke out in 1914, Japanese invaders took over in Qingdao and continued a colonial rule. In protest against the then Chinese government yielding to Japanese pressure, the famous May 4th Movement was launched in 1919 and protestors demanded the resumption of sovereignty over Qingdao. On December 10, 1922, the Northern Lords government regained the rule of Qingdao and established a government office for port commercial affairs. In July 1929 Qingdao was granted the status of special city and was listed in the rank of cities in 1930. After more than 7 years of occupation by the Japanese who invaded Qingdao again in January 1938, Qingdao returned to the hands of the Nationalist government in September 1945. On June 2, 1949, Qingdao was liberated. In 1986, the city was designated to exercise special state plans, enjoying vice-provincial-level economic management rights. In 1994, it was included in the country's 15-vice-provincial-level-city list.
Economy and Development
Qingdao is a key textile, light industry and chemical production base in China. It has special advantages in household appliances, rubber, locomotive and rolling stock manufacture, as well as food processing. The city's GDP in 2001 reached RMB131.60 billion, an increase of 13.7% over the previous year. Of these figures: the primary industry accounted for RMB14.32 billion, up 2.3%; secondary industry accounted for RMB64.88 billion, up 16.3%; and tertiary industry accounted for RMB52.40 billion, up 14.0%. Qingdao is rich in natural resources, grains and oil, forestry and fruits, animal husbandry and marine products, in particular. Dazeshan grapes, produced in Pingdu, are famous worldwide. There are a great number of bays and coves along the coastline of Qingdao, with a large area of shallows, ideal for marine culture. Marine products here include porgies, yellow croaker, common perch, abalone, oysters, prawns, scallops, sea cucumber, crabs and top shells.
|
Grains: |
2,539,300 tons |
|
Vegetables: |
6,250,400 tons |
|
Fruits: |
675,200 tons |
|
Meat: |
640,600 tons |
|
Cow and goat milk: |
271,100 tons |
|
Eggs: |
386,700 tons |
There are many famous Chinese enterprises located in Qingdao, such as the Haier Group, Tsingtao Beer Group, HiSense Group, Aucma Group, Double Star Group, Rubber Group, Etsong Group, Huadong Winery Co Ltd and Dayang Food Group. Tsingtao Beer is a century-old enterprise while Haier is a new enterprise rising up out of China's reform and opening-up. Haier's global sales income in 2001 surpassed RMB60 billion, just a step away from the world top 500 goal. HiSense, Double Star and Aucma are well-known Chinese brands. Qingdao's financial sector is expanding rapidly. Many influential bankers have established branches and offices in Qingdao. These are the Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank, the Construction Bank, the Agricultural Bank, the Communication Bank, CITIC Industrial Bank, Evergreen Bank, Hauxia Bank, the Commercial Bank, the Merchant Bank, the Hong Kong Po Sang Bank, the Japanese Shikoku Bank, the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank, the Standard Chartered Bank, the Singapore Overseas Chinese Bank and the Hong Kong Southeast Asia Bank. The insurance sector also experienced rapid growth. The current annual insurance value totals RMB406.598 billion.
Qingdao boasts 25 maritime research institutes and educational and managerial institutions. Qingdao Ocean University is a national key university. Half of China's oceanic professionals and researchers are working in Qingdao where there is a wide range of instruments and apparatus for oceanic investigation and research. The introduction of foreign experts to Qingdao is being carried out rapidly. Over 1,500 technical staff and managerial staff in Qingdao have been abroad for training. Over 860 technical and managerial experts have been appointed to work in Qingdao. There is also an industrial park established for overseas Chinese scholars in which they can open their own businesses. Qingdao successfully hosted an activity entitled "Hundred Overseas Doctors' Invention Week" in 2001.
State-level Key Development Zones
Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone
Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone is a heavy chemical industrial base set up in October 1984. Its 220-square-kilometer area contains a heavy chemical industrial area, an adjacent-port industrial area, an international trade area, a tourism area and an administrative and commercial central area.
Qingdao Free Trade Zone
Located in Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone, the 3.7-square-kilometer Qingdao Free Trade Zone is a comprehensive area for foreign trade, and incorporates such functions as bonded warehousing, export processing and commodity exhibition. Due to its unique preferential policies and development potential, this free trade zone has become the most attractive area for foreign investments
Qingdao Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone
The State-level Qingdao Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone is located in the eastern part of Qingdao proper, covering 67 square kilometers, with the Shilaoren National Holiday Resort lying nearby. After 9 years of development and construction, an industrial layout involving modern household appliances, software, telecommunications, precision medical equipment, bio-chemical engineering and automobile parts, has taken shape.
Pingdu Cross-strait Agricultural Co-operation Experimental Zone
The Cross-strait Agricultural Co-operation Experimental Zone in Pingdu, Shandong is the only State-level cross-strait joint venture experimental farm in Shandong, set up in March 1999 under the approval of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation. Now a farm and sideline product processing and breeding park, an agricultural hi-tech park and a Taiwan industrial park have been constructed inside the zone. Approved by the Shandong provincial government, Qingdao has established 6 provincial-level economic and technological development zones - Huanhai, Jimo, Laixi, Pingdu, Jiaonan and Jiaozhou. All these 6 development zones have complete infrastructure facilities, excellent investment environment and convenient means of transport, which are drawing more and more foreign business people to make investments here. In 2001, Qingdao's export & import value totaled USD15.416 billion, among which the export value accounted for USD9.502 billion. Compared with the 2000 figures, the export & import value and the export value in 2001 increased by 13.9% and 14.9% respectively. A total of 1,255 foreign-invested projects had been approved by the end of 2001, with actual invested foreign capital of USD3.606 billion (up 34.0%) and an actually used foreign capital of USD1.598 billion (up 24.6%). The accumulated foreign capital utilization has exceeded USD10 billion. The registered foreign invested enterprises numbered 4,937, a 24.5% growth over the previous year.
Map of Qingdao, China
|
