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Hubei Province is shown
in black. Note that Chinese names
are in MingLiU (Chinese Traditional) screen font. This may appear as question marks or other symbols if that font
is not installed on your browser. |
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Provincial Capital: Wuhan. A straight
line connecting Hong Kong with Beijing and another line connecting Shanghai with Chongqing would
intersect close to Wuhan. It is
consequently an important transport and communications hub. Physical features: The
province has an area of 185,900 square kilometres. The land area is high in the west and low in the east, with
mountains and hills except in the south.
It has a subtropical in climate, with frequent droughts and floods. Rivers and lakes: The
Yangtze River and its tributary, the Hanshui River. About 10 per cent of the province consists of lakes, giving
Hubei the name “province of a thousand lakes”. The name “hubei” means north of the lake, which in this case is
Dongting Lake （洞庭湖）. Average temperatures: 1 deg
C to 6 deg C in January; 24 deg C to 30 deg C in July. Administrative divisions: 25
cities, 1 autonomous prefecture, 51 counties and 2 autonomous counties and 1
forest district. Historical significance: Hubei was the centre of the Chu Kingdom
during the Warring States period (475-221 BC), which is sometimes referred to
as the “golden age” of China.
Confucius lived in the immediately preceding period (551-479 BC). |
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The province leads the country in deposits of phosphate,
salt, iron, copper and gypsum.
Silica, garnet and marlstone exist in large amounts, and Hubei also
has rich deposits of minerals and metals such as rutile, iron and copper. The province has a substantial hydropower potential with
an estimated capacity of 33.1 million kWh, for which the province ranks 4th
in the country. Apart from the
Gezhouba（葛洲壩）and Danjiangkou（丹江口）Hydroelectric
Power Stations which have a combined capacity of 3.6 million kWh, the Three
Gorges（三門峽）Hydroelectric Station is also under construction |
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Notes: * In real terms |
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Railways － Major
railways in Hubei include the Beijing-Guangzhou（北京－廣州）line, Beijing-Kowloon（北京－九龍）, Shanghai-Wuhan（上海－武漢）, Wuhan-Chengdu（武漢－成都）and Jiaozuo-Zhicheng（焦作－枝城）lines, connecting the province to all directions in the country. A new railway line running along the
Yangtze River is expected to be completed within the next 5 years. This railway will cross various provinces
and municipalities including Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Chongqing and Shanghai. Highways － There
are 8 inter-provinces highways and 118 intra-province highways covering all
cities, counties and most villages and towns in the province. A new expressway to the Xihaigu area of
the Ningxia Hui
Autonomous Region will be built within 5 years. This road will form an integral part of the expressway between
the city of Yinchuan
and Wuhan. The
Yinchuan-Wuhan expressway will be 390 kilometres long. Air Transport － There
are 7 airports in Hubei including the Wuhan, Yichang, Sanxia, Xiangfan and
Shashi airports. The largest one,
Wuhan Tianhe（天河）Airport has an average of 230 flights each week with a total passenger
handling capacity of 4.2 million. Regular flight between Hong Kong and Wuhan is also available. Telecommunications － Telecommunications services have
made remarkable progress in Hubei.
Currently, there are over 1 million subscribers for mobile phone
services and mobile phone users in Wuhan account for over
half of the province's total. Gas Supply － Construction of a new gas
pipeline will be started by end-2000. The gas pipeline will link the
provinces of Sichuan
and Hubei. Main part of the pipeline
starts at Zhongxian County in Chongqing and ends
in Wuhan. The
whole project is expected to complete by early 2003. |
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The output of high quality rice in the province comprises
about 39 percent of total production and rapeseed acreage in Hubei is about
58 percent of the national total. In 2000, grain production in the province was relatively
stable. Steady progress was made in
animal husbandry and fishery industry, while forestry production maintained
steady growth. The total afforested area in 2000 was 196,930
hectares. Farmland irrigation and
water conservation facilities were reinforced. A comprehensive land recovery program was applied to 1,950
square kilometres of land, while 334,670 hectares of land were converted into
farmland with effective irrigation systems and another 48,430 hectares of
land were equipped with water-saving systems. |
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The province has developed into an important industrial
production base with its major industries including metallurgy, machine
building, textiles, electronics, foodstuffs, motor vehicles, shipbuilding,
chemicals and construction materials. Hubei is an important centre for the iron and steel
industry in China. It has formed
a relatively comprehensive industrial system which include geological
prospecting, designing, construction, mining, separation, smelting,
rolling. The Wuhan Iron and Steel
(Group) Corp. is one of the famous steel giants in China. Hubei is also one of the major motor vehicle
production centres in China. It
produced 224,000 vehicles in 1999 and ranked the third in China, after Jilin
and Shanghai. The Dongfeng Automobile
Co. Ltd. and Aeolux Automotive Co. are significant in this industry. It is predicted that by the year of 2010,
the province will be able to produce over 900,000 vehicles a year. Textile industry has
developed into a pillar industry with comprehensive range of products
including cotton textile, wool textile, linen textile, knitting, silk
textile, printing and dyeing, chemical fibre, fabric material
processing. Priorities for industrial development in the province
include: Ø
energy, telecommunications and raw materials
production Ø
more rapid growth for motor vehicles, machinery
industries and agriculture, and Ø
further improving the tertiary industry. Well-known enterprises in the province include the
following: Changjiang
Dynamic Power Group Company |
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The province has 88,895 research workers and ranks fifth
in China in terms of research personnel.
This includes 15 employed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the
province and 10 employed by the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The research level and productive capability in the new
high-tech fields such as laser, optical fibre communication, bioengineering
and new materials are among the best in China. |
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Major local retail enterprises in Wuhan
include Wuhan Department Store, Wuhan Zhongnan Commercial Group, Wuhan
Hanshang Group, Wuhan Zhongxing Department Store, Hubei Huishang Group and
Hubei Jinshang Group. |
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Ø
Wuhan Ø
Huangshi, and Ø
Erzhou Leading industries include metallurgical,
engineering, textile, chemical and building matrials. Western Industrial Region – These cities extend from Wuhan to
the border with Sichuan
Province and include: Ø Yichang Ø Jingzhou and Ø Jingmen Leading industries include electric power, oil,
chemical and light industries. Northern Industrial Base – This includes: Ø
Xiangfan and Ø Shiyan Leading industries include motor vehicles,
electronic and light industries. The cities are listed below according to their ranking by
industrial output. |
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In 1950 the cities of Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang were
combined into one administrative unit, and given the abbreviated name
Wuhan. Hankou, the commercial centre and largest of the three,
occupies the northwest quadrant, lying west of the Yangtze and north of the
Han Jiang. Hanyang, a manufacturing and residential section, lies
west of the Yangtze and south of the Han Jiang. Wuchang, the administrative and educational centre as well
as the provincial capital of Hubei, is situated on the eastern bank of the
Yangtze. The original identity of the three cities is preserved,
but they now function under a single municipal government, making Wuhan a
major industrial centre of eastern China and one of the largest cities in the
country. Wuhan is the site of an integrated iron and steel complex,
which is one of the largest of its type in China and supports heavy machinery
manufacturing as well as railway equipment and motor vehicles. Wuhan is the major city in Hubei to attract foreign investment. By end of May 1999, the city approved
4,649 foreign-invested projects, and actually utilised foreign capital
amounted to US$6.1 billion. Hong Kong is the major investor with more than 2,000
enterprises in Wuhan. France is
another major investor in the city.
Currently, French investment in Wuhan totalled US$1.5 billion,
accounting for 13% of the city's total overseas investments. French investment in Wuhan mainly engaged
in automobile industry. Famous
enterprises include PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Renault, Carrefour, Societe Generale
and the Total-Elf Group. |
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Xiangfan lies to the northwest of Wuhan, between the
Daba and the Dabie Mountains. Though
not as well known as some of the other cities in the province, its population
is nearly 6 million and it has the second largest industrial output in Hubei.
It is the main manufacturing centre in the northern part
of the province and benefits from a good supply of electric power, as well as
fresh water from the Hanjiang River, which is a major tributary of the
Yangtze River. Mineral resources consist of rutile, phosphorous, clay,
aluminium and barite. Agriculture within the area under the jurisdiction of
Xiangfan consists of summer grains, cotton and vegetable oil. Manufacturing consists of motor vehicles, clothing and
textiles, building materials and a range of other industries Xiangfan High-Tech Development Zone（襄樊高新技術產業開發區）
This is a state level high-tech industry development zone
that concentrates on optical glass.
The development zone is divided into several development areas. Dongfeng Automobile Company is situated in
the eastern area. Centres for light
industry, textile and chemical industry are located in the west to north. Commercial and trade centres are
established in the south. For more information: v
Xiangfan Municipal Government Website: http://www.xf.gov.cn v
Xiangfan Science and Technology Information
Network: http://www.xfkw.gov.cn. |
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Yichang is near the border of Hubei and Sichuan
Provinces and lies at the foot of Hubei’s western mountains. The main industrial activities include
electric power, oil, chemical and light industries. It is the site of the Dongshan
and Huting Economic and Technological Development Zones. |
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Huangshi is a major part of the eastern industrial region
of Hubei Province, situated about 100 km downstream from Wuhan. The main industrial focus of the city is metallurgical,
engineering, textiles, chemicals and building materials. |
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Jingzhou lies directly west of Wuhan and directly
south of Xiangfan. The ancient city of Jingzhou （荊州古城）is a major tourist attraction. |
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Shiyan is located in the northern part of the province and
serves the surrounding rural area. |
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Hubei Economic and Trade Commission (http://www.hbinvest.gov.cn) Hong Kong Trade Development Council (http://www.tdctrade.com) |
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Hubei Economic and Trade Commission and Hubei Sub-Council of the China Council for the
Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) We are in the process of maintaining regular contact with organisations
in the cities listed. Please contact
us if you require additional information about Hubei Province or any of the
cities listed. |
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