Beijing:

Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China, is the center of the nation's politics, culture and international exchanges and a modern metropolis full of vitality. The beauty of the city has for hundreds of years attracted numerous people to visit this ancient capital in the East.

Beijing Municipality is located between 116° 20' east longitude and 39°56' north latitude, with Tianjin City on its eastern border and Hebei Province on the other three sides.

Lying in the northern part of North China Plain, Beijing is surrounded by mountains on the west, the north and the northeast. The northeastern part of the city is high while the southwestern part is low topographically, with a southeastern plain tilted gradually downward to the Bohai Sea. Major rivers flowing through Beijing include Yongding River, Chaobai River, North Canal and Juma River that mostly originated in the northeastern mountainous areas of Beijing. These rivers flow through rugged mountains towards southeastern plain of Beijing and in the end join the Bohai Sea.

Beijing has a continental monsoon climate with four distinct seasons. Spring and autumn are short while winter and summer are long. The average temperature of Beijing in year 2002 is 13.2oC. December was the coldest month with an average temperature of -2.9oC while July was the hottest month with an average temperature of 27.5oC. Average annual rainfall in 2002 equaled 370.4 millimeters, which was relatively low. The frost-free period of Beijing for year 2002 was 199 days.

Beijing occupies a total area of 16,807.8 square kilometers. Around 10,417.5 square kilometers are mountainous areas, which constitute 62 percent of the total space of Beijing. The plain area of Beijing covers 6,390.3 square kilometers, which accounts for 38 percent of the city's total area. Beijing municipality has 16 subordinate districts and 2 counties.

Beijing, as China's political, cultural and international exchange center, is a dynamic city with a wide range of industries. During the years after China adopted reform and open-up policies and especially in the Ninth Five year period (year 1996-2000), CPC Beijing Committee and Beijing Municipal Government have made adjustments to the city's economic structure and layout to ensure a healthy, sustained economic development for the city.

In 2002 particularly, Beijing government managed to overcome the influence of a slowed down world economy and made active adjustment to the new economic environment after China's entry to WTO. Beijing's gross domestic production (GDP) in 2002 increased 10.4% from the previous year to reach 321.27 billion Yuan (approximately 38.71 billion U.S. dollars).

Beijing is a major city with the greatest development of the tertiary industry with 62.2% of the total GDP devoting to the tertiary industry. Local financial revenue of the city totaled 53.4 billion Yuan (approximately 6.43 billion U.S. dollars) and saw an increase of 25.9 % over 2001 and an average of over 20% increase for a consecutive of eight years. Beijing's local expenditure was 62.83 billion Yuan (approximately 7.57 billion U.S. dollars), which equaled to an increase of 12.4 over the previous year. Hebei Province:

Unique Geographical Location

Situated in the central part of the area around Bohai Sea and facing Japan and Korea across the sea, Hebei Province not only serves as a passage connecting Northeast China with other provinces in China, but as an important north outlet to sea for the Northwest provinces. This area, designated by the Chinese government as one of the major zones for opening-up and development, is becoming one of the best examples as far as the performance of reform and opening-up and the pace of economic development are concerned. As the only province surrounding Beijing and Tianjin, Hebei maintains long-standing ties with the two metropolises. Naturally, with mutual influence and infiltration in their economies, the Jing-Jin-Ji(Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) Economic Zone has been formed. Hence, Hebei province will provide an ecological protective screen, serve as a protective river and rear garden for the capital, meanwhile, Hebei province will certainly become the important base for Beijing,Tianjin for green food production & supply, scientific achievements transformation and industrial auxiliary equipments manufacturing. Economic integration and interaction in this area will be steadily enhanced with the gradual establishment of the market economic system.

Rich Natural Resources for Industrial Development

Hebei province, with 6.4846 million hectares of cultivated land, is one of the major production bases of cereals, cotton and vegetable oils. Its coastal belt, with a surface of 1 million hectares and more than 200 kinds of marine organisms, serves as an important base of aquatic products in north China. Hebei is also among the major provinces with rich mineral resources in China. More than 116 minerals in deposit have been discovered so far, and reserves of 74 varieties verified, with those of 45 varieties taking the top ten places in the mainland provinces. These resources are widely spread and present a fairly systematic distribution which provides favorable conditions for building large complexes of iron and steel, Building Materials and Chemical Industry and developing coal chemical, salt chemical and petrochemical industries. Hebei is one of the provinces with most abundant tourist resources and takes the third place in terms of historical relics. With 670 historical relics under provincial or state protection , 88 of which under state protection and 15 grade A scenic spots at state level, placing in the front row in the state. The Imperial Summer Resort and temples around in Chengde, the Royal Tombs of Ming and Qing Dynasty and the Great Wall are listed among the world cultural heritage. Eight key tourist lines around Beijing have been constructed in Hebei province, in which Beijing-Jinshanling-Chengde-Weichang, Beijing-Huairou-The first prairie north of Beijing in Fengning, Beijing-Huailai-Zhuolu-Zhangjiakou-Chongli-Guyuan-Chicheng,Beijing-Yeshanpo-Laiyuan,Beijing-East Tomb of Qing Dynasty-Tangshan-Qinhuangdao,etc.features ecological environment with beaches,twittering birds,forestry,prairie,lakes,ice and snow,hot springs integrated together as well as features local cultures, the other lines as Beijing-Xianghe -Wuqiao-Hengshui, Beijing-Zhuozhou-West Tomb of Qing dynasty-Baoding-Baiyangdian-Shijiazhuang-Xingtai-Handan and the Great Wall special tourist line in Hebei embody the abundant cultural and custom characteristics, which are warmly welcome by tourists.

Convenient Communications and Communications Based on Modern Science and Technology

Hebei Province situated in the area as a hub of communications through which Beijing connects itself with other parts of the country. After years of construction, a comprehensive Communications system integrated by land ways, seaways and airways, has been formed. There are 15 railways and 17 national trunk-roads extending across the province, put Hebei in the first place among all the mainland provinces in terms of rail freight and highway freight respectively. The total length of expressways in operation has extended to 1480 kilometers, ranking the second among the mainland provinces. Hebei enjoys convenient ocean shipping facilities .The four major seaports, lining up from north to south, are Qinhuangdao, Jingtang, Tianjin and Huanghua which is now under construction, with annual handling capacity amounting to 130 million tons.

Shijiazhuang Airport was designated by the state as an international port. The Capital Airport of Beijing and the Tianjin International Airport are available to Hebei as well. With the rapid development of post and telecommunications, the domestic and international direct dial service and the mobile communication network are available in all the cities and counties of the province. The multi-media communication network-Yanzhao Information Bay has been made available for use. The convenient Communications and communications keep Hebei in close connection with each part of the world for the purpose of smooth international exchange and cooperation.

A Huge Market

With the constant increase of the urban and rural resident's income and the further improvement of the people's living standards, Hebei has formed a huge market. The total retail volume of social consumer goods increases rapidly. By 2001, the per capita disposable income of the residents in cities and towns reaches RMB 5985 yuan while per capita net income of farmers, RMB 2604 yuan. The Jing-Jin-Ji Economic Zone, consisting of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei with a consumer group of nearly 120 million and occupying over 10% of the total market capacity in the mainland, is one of the largest markets in China. While acting as a center of commodity circulation for east China, south China and southwest China to connect with the “Three North Areas”, e.g. northeast China, northwest China and north China, Hebei also serves as an important outlet to sea for the “Three North Areas”. . Ever since ancient times, Hebei has been known as a famous distributing center for all kinds of goods in north China. With the sustained development of the market economy, the market potential in this area will be brought into better play. Therefore, to make investments and establish businesses in Hebei can help you not only set foot in the local market but easily enter the markets in Beijing and Tianjin, and further explore the markets in the “Three North Areas”.

Comprehensive Economic Strength and Powerful Production Capacity

During the “Ninth Five-year Plan” period, the social productivity and comprehensive economic strength of Hebei has marched into a new stage. The local GDP has increased by 11% annually, 2.7% higher than the nation's average growth rate, the per capita GDP has reached RMB 7560 yuan, higher than the nation's average level, leaping to 11th place from the previous 13th place in the state. In 2001, the provincial GDP reached RMB 557.8 billion yuan, representing an increase of 8.7% over the previous year and 1.5% higher than the nation's average growth rate. Today the status of Agriculture as the foundation of the national economy has been further consolidated; the output of grain, cotton and edible oil stands in the front row of the nation. The agricultural industrialization operation has been promoted rapidly and the traditional Agriculture is being replaced by the modern Agriculture. A proper structure of industrial economy has been basically formed with chemical(Medicine), Metallurgy, Building Materials, Machinery Industry and Foodstuffstuff as the key industries and Light Industry, Textile Industry etc. as the traditional major industries. In 2000, 57 enterprises in Hebei was listed among the nation's 1000 large industrial enterprises and a number of advantageous enterprises and famous-brand products have been fostered and developed. Many enterprises as North China Pharmaceutical Group, Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical Group, Handan Iron & Steel Group, Xuanhua Construction Machinery Industry Group, China Lucky Film Corp, Hebei Bosoar Group, Baoding Swan Chemical Fiber Group, etc., are well-known in the state in their respective field. Service industries as Communications and communications, commerce, Tourism, information and consulting have also made great progress.

New Phase in International Economic and Trade Cooperation

Hebei province has so far established economic and trade relations with more than 160 countries and regions and formed friendly ties with 49 cities, states and provinces in the world. By the end of 2001,the actual utilization of foreign funds has amounted to US$ 13.326 billion and 9450 foreign-funded enterprises have been registered. The foreign funds have come into such industries as energy, Communications, communications, raw materials, light and Textile Industry industries, Machinery Industry, Electronics, Clothing Industry, agricultural and sideline products processing, services, Tourism, public facilities and real estate development. The overseas investors come from more than 80 countries and regions, with 34 among the World Top 500 transnational corporations. With china' accession to WTO, china' opening-up will step into a new developing phase, the present laws and regulations, management system and public polices are expected to be readjusted and formulated in accordance with rules set up by WTO to form the management system progressively with stable policies, standard management and transparent operation. Policies and measures encouraging foreign investments shall be made or improved while restrictions for foreign funds coming into the market shall be reduced. Foreign-funded enterprises are expected to be gradually treated equally with the national treatment. To attract more foreign funds, the provincial government shall simplify the approval procedures for the utilization of foreign funds, raise working efficiency, improve services and protect the legal rights and interests of the overseas investors. To broaden the sphere of utilization of the foreign funds, cooperation with large transnational corporations, especially with the World Top 500 shall be strengthened by various means of utilizing foreign funds as purchasing, mergering, investment funds and portfolio investment.

Profound Potentialities and More Investment Opportunities

In 2001, Hebei province began to implement the “Tenth Five-year Plan”, the development in modernization construction is expected to stride forward by making development the major theme. Taking structure readjustment as the major link, the new economic structure with Hebei characteristic shall be constructed with 15 leading industries including animal husbandry, vegetable production, fruit industry, Foodstuffstuff, steel & iron, Medicine, new Building Materials, Machinery Industry manufacture, Chemical Industry, Tourism, towns construction, commercial circulation, non compulsory education, cultural industry, information technology and information industry getting full development. During the “Tenth Five-year Plan” period, the annual average growth rate of the GDP of Hebei is expected to reach 8%- 9%. During this period and to the year 2010, Hebei makes it a chief task to conduct the key construction projects in the following ten respects as ecological environment construction, Agriculture and agricultural industrialization construction, water conservancy construction, urban basic facilities construction, energy and Communications construction, high-tech industrialization, transformation and construction of the traditional industries, Tourism construction, market construction and social undertaking constructions of education, culture and hygiene. In order to achieve the magnificent target of building itself an economically strong and modernized province, Hebei, taking China's entry into WTO as an excellent chance, will continue to take the strategy of “ developing the economy by bringing into full play its geographical advantages and opening policy' as one of its principal strategies for economic development, trying to strengthen opening-up, extend the sphere and increase the amount of utilizing foreign funds and raise its quality and level in utilizing foreign funds by actively introducing advanced technologies so as to promote the opening-up to a new stage. At present, the emphasis of utilizing foreign investments is laid upon the following: Great efforts should be given to strengthen and solidify Agriculture as basic foundation, develop energetically Agriculture with advanced facilities, green Agriculture, special Agriculture, carry out “improved seeds varieties project” and establish a number of high-tech agricultural demonstration gardens and quality agricultural products bases. Meanwhile, animal husbandry and fishery are also expected to get fully developed. Traditional industries are expected to be transformed and improved by adopting advanced practical technologies, especially information technology and a number of key enterprises should be transformed focusing on trades of Metallurgy, energy, Medicine, chemical, complete sets of equipment, Building Materials, Foodstuffstuffs and Textile Industry. High-tech industries development shall be encouraged to accelerate the tempo of industrialization concentrating on the fields of electronic-information, bioengineering and modern pharmacology, new materials, optical electromechanical integration and environmental protection industry and the key projects constructions including broadband comprehensive information insert system, optical materials, software developing, new Chinese-Medicine preparation and gene engineering Medicine should be also given more efforts. Traditional services as commercial distribution, Communications and communications and municipal service etc. are expected to be transformed and improved while modern services including information, banking, Tourism, accounting, law shall be greatly improved. With the successful implementation of the strategy for economic development in Hebei and the consequent rapid economic growth, more investment opportunities and more handsome returns will certainly be brought to foreign investors.