II . Economy
i. Data of GDP
The total output value of Shanxi Province in the year 2005 reached RMB 412.12 billion Yuan, Per capita gross output valve was RMB 12,320 Yuan, which is equivalent to US $1,530 according to the current exchange rate.
ii. Main industries and Resources
Resource
Shanxi Province possesses abundant mineral resources. There are 120 kinds of ascertained minerals throughout the province, among which the recoverable deposits of 34 kinds rank within the top ten among the whole country. The reserves of coal, coal bed gas, alumyte, sagger, perlite, gallium, platinum, and zeolite all head the nationwide list. The reserves of limestone, germanium, felspar, copper, and cobalt all stand second on the list. The reserves of iron ore and sulfurous iron ore stand fourth on the list. Some other minerals such as silicon, gold, silver, molybdenum, plaster, graphite, rutile, and asbestos all hold comprehensive development value. Four traditional pillar industries, namely coal, electricity, metallurgy and coke, have been formed in Shanxi on the basis of its rich resources and Shanxi has therefore become an important resource base in China.
Coal
The coal recoverable reserves in Shanxi is more than 258 billion tons, and the annual output of raw coal is approximately 0.5 billion tons, accounting for one third of the total output of China. The annual coal export volume from Shanxi accounts 12 million tons, which is ranking at the top on the list of China.
Coke
Shanxi is the largest base of coking coal resource and coke production base in the country. The coke output of Shanxi province accounts for 40% of the country's output and accounts for 17% of the world's output. The export volume of coke from Shanxi accounts for nearly 80% of the whole country's coke export volume and accounts for 48% of the international trade volume in the coke market.
Electric Power
Shanxi enjoys exceptional advantages in terms of its electric industry. In the year of 2005, the generating capacity of the whole province reached 131.2 billion kilowatt-hours. With the main two circuits the 220 kilovolts two-way circuit and the 500 kilovolts single circuit, an electric network covering the whole province have been formed.
Metallurgy Industry
Shanxi is China's smelting base of iron and steel, aluminum, and magnesium alloy industries, with over 1.5 million tons of the annual output of alumina in 2005.
As the most competitive stainless steel manufacturing enterprise in the whole country, Taiyuan Iron & Steel Group is expected to manufacture 3 million tons of stainless steel per year and become the largest base of stainless steel production in the world.
Shanxi is also the largest base of magnesium production worldwide. The annual output of metal magnesium ingot and magnesium alloy is around 0.4 million tons, accounting for nearly 70% of the whole country's output and accounting for more than 30% of the world trade volume.
Investment Fields
From 2006 to 2010, Shanxi will focus on the following investment fields:
1.Coal chemical industry.
Shanxi will develop projects such as methyl alcohol and its by-products, ethyne chemical, crude benzol processing, chemical fertilizers, deep processing of coal tar, synthetic oil, coal oven and gas transforming and utilizing.
2. Equipment manufacturing industry.
Shanxi will focus on developing heavy duty trucks and coal mineral complete sets, enhancing the sectors of heavy machinery, railway and light rail machinery, textile machinery, basic machinery, coal chemical industrial and environmental equipment, automobile engines and accessories.
3. Material industry. Shanxi will focus on developing the new-type walling materials and building materials that take coal gangue, fly ash, and industrial residue as the raw materials; meanwhile, the industries of ferroboron magnetic materials, nanophase materials, fire proof materials, kaolin materials and high performance ceramics and fi bre materials will be further expanded.
4. Tourism industry.
We will actively introduce investment from abroad to develop the scenic spots and improve the basic service facilities,and other tourism market related items.
5. High and new technology industry.
Shanxi government will emphasis on the opening up the investment fields of high and new technology such as electronic information,biotechnology and new energies.
6. Special farm and sideline product industry. Shanxi will focus on developing food processing, Chinese medicinal herbs processing, biological products production, large-scale farming and cultivation, and projects for processing corn, minor cereals, fresh & preserved fruit, and so on.
7. Service industry.
Shanxi will accelerate the development pace of service industry and improve the service quality.
We will try hard to develop the modern service sectors such as logistics, finance securities, agencies and information service centers, and the new service sectors such as exhibition, real estate, decorative design, cultural entertainment, and community services. In addition, the traditional service sectors, such as wholesale and retail trade, food and beverage service and hotel, will be reorganized and fostered
8. Infrastructure construction.
We emphasis on encouraging foreign investors to participate in the construction of urban water supply, gas supply, and sewage and garbage disposal, old city improvement & development, public highway & railway etc.
9. Social affairs.
We will actively introduce foreign and private investment to the establishment of private hospitals, schools, and urban Public transportation.
10. We emphasis on encouraging foreign investors to participate in the technologies improvement of traditional advantaged industries, such as coal industry, coke industry, metallurgy industry and electric power industry.
iii. Data on Industry and Agriculture
Agriculture
The total cultivation area of agricultural products in the whole province was 56.93 million mu (1mu=0.0667 hectares) in the year 2005, and the main crop were consisted of corn, wheat, minor cereal, and oil plants, cotton, vegetable and fruit etc. Among these agricultural products, the output of minor cereals, a mainly millet, beans, and potato, account for one third of the overall agricultural output of Shanxi, for which Shanxi is also known as" the kingdom of minor cereals".
The minor cereals of Shanxi are famous both at home and abroad by its unique healthy features with high nutrition and quality. In 2005, 2.104 million mu (1mu=0.0667 hectares) of forestry area was accomplished, the total output of all kinds of meat reached 0.906 million tons, and the total output of marine products reached 38,000 tons.
Industry
Industrial production maintained steady and rapid growth, the sales income of the state-owned enterprises and non state owned enterprises that have an annual sales income of more than 5 million RMB reached 461.93 billion RMB. The output of the main products mostly grew fast.
iv. Business Data
Foreign Trade
Foreign trade steadily increased. In 2005, total export-import volume of the whole province was S$ 5.55 billion. Among that, export volume was US$ 3.53 billon, and import volume was US$ 2.02 billion. The accumulated trade surplus was US$ 1.51 billion. In export, general trade volume was US$ 3.04 billion, and the processing trade volume was US$ 0.49 billion. In import, general trade volume was US$ 1.57 billion, and processing trade volume was US$ 0.28 billion.
Foreign Investment
Foreign investment in Shanxi was rising steadily. There were altogether 85 newly approved foreign invested projects in 2005, among which there were 35 joint investment projects, 21 cooperative projects, 28 projects fully invested by foreigners and 1 project with foreign owned stock. The total foreign investment in Shanxi was US$ 2.44 billion, among which the foreign investment in the form of contract was US$ 1.1 billion, and the actual use of foreign investment was US$ 0.28 billion. By the end of 2005, the total number of approved projects with foreign investment in Shanxi was 2,056, and the gross investment was US$ 12.878 billion.
International Economic Cooperation
The contract sum of foreign contracted projects and cooperation in the fi eld of labor service in Shanxi reached US$ 0.22 billion in the year 2005, with the annual turnover of US$ 0.2 billion. The number of the staff that were sent overseas was 1,195 persontime, and the number of staff that were still overseas at the end of the year was 2,264.
There were many enterprises that contracted a large number of engineering projects, and made a demonstrative and leading impact on the improvement of the enterprises' competitiveness.
Overseas Investment
In terms of overseas investment, China (Brazil) Investment Trade Centre, established jointly by People's Government of Shanxi Province and Ministry of Commerce is a state level offshore organization, which is based on Brazil and South American markets as well as dealing with nationwide business.
The project of annual producing 50,000 sets of spined voile by Tianli Co., Ltd. (Mauritius) with total investment of 0.29 billion RMB
Related Articles:
Doing Business in Shanxi Province of China: I.Survey
Doing Business in Shanxi Province of China: III.Investment
Doing Business in Shanxi Province of China: IV. Development Zones
