Investment in Hebei
Key Facts:
Area: 190,000 square km
Population: 64.84 million
Capital City: Shijiazhuang
Major Cities: Cangzhou, Chengde, Qinhuangdao, Beidaihe, Shanhaiguan, Tangshan, Baoding, Zhangjiakou
GDP: 648.45 billion RMB
Investing in Hebei Province:
Investment in Hebei Province has experienced continued growth, in 2005 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and investment from other sources totalled US$ 2.65 billion, a 12.4% increase on the previous year. The value of imports and exports in Hebei Province also saw dramatic increases between 2004 and 2005. In 2005 the total value of exports and imports was US$ 9.092 billion, this was an increase of 34.3% on 2004. Of this US$ 4.45 billion was from exports, up 31.5% on 2004, and US$ 4.642 billion was from imports, up 37.0% on 2004.
The major industry sectors of agriculture, high-tech, construction, transportation, retail and tourism all saw development in 2005. In agriculture the total output of grains in Hebei in 2005 was 21.77 million tonnes, this was an increase of 3.7% on 2004. Also, the total agricultural value was up 4.0%. The high-tech industry’s added value stood at 53.392 billion RMB in 2005, an increase of 23.5% on the previous year. Construction in Hebei Province had an output value of 124.684 billion RMB, up by 12.2%. The tourism industry has seen some of the largest increases year-on-year; the most significant is the huge increase the province has seen in foreign tourism. Foreign exchange earnings from foreign tourism in 2005 totalled US$276 million, a dramatic increase of 43.6% on 2004. The retail sector’s annual turnover of sales reached 296.458 billion RMB, an increase of 13.2% on the previous year. There was also a significant increase in the use of transportation in Hebei Province in 2005. Freight carried by various means over the year totalled 166.93 billion tonne-kilometres, up 6.9% on the previous year. Passengers carried by various means of transport numbered 80.164 billion person-kilometres, this was an increase of 5.0% on 2004.
2005 was also a very successful year in Hebei Province in regards to reducing levels of unemployment and improving welfare provisions. Approximately 645,000 new jobs were created in the province, an increase of 49,000 compared to 2004. By the end of 2005 35.37 million people in the province were employed, an increase of 300,000 on 2004. Welfare units across Hebei also became better equipped in 2005, the welfare units have at their disposal 183,000 beds and in 2005 put up over 169,000 homeless people. By the end of the year there were 5,700 community service facilities. Also by the end of 2005 approximately 801,000 rural residents were covered by regular relief funds.
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