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Beijing Municipality is
shown as the small white square surrounded by the black area, which is Hebei Province |
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Area: 16,808 square kilometres General information: Beijing
is situated within the northern part of the Huabei Plain （華北平原）and is the capital
of China, as well as the main cultural and international exchange
centre. Average temperatures: -7 deg
C to -4 deg C in January; 25 deg C to 26 deg C in July. Physical features: The
area contained in the municipality is mountainous in the north and west with
flatlands in the southeast. Rivers: Yongding River, which is a
branch of the Hai River, flows through the municipality. Administrative divisions: 10
districts and 8 counties. Historical significance:
Beijing occupies a site that was inhabited since prehistoric
times. It was the capital of a feudal
kingdom as early as the 3rd century BC and became a political seat of the
empire under the Mongols (Yuan Dynasty between 1279 and 1368 AD). Much of the
city was rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The city, at that time, consisted of the walled Forbidden
City (residence of the emperors) and the Imperial City, surrounded by the
rectangular Inner City. To the south
was the walled Outer City, devoted mainly to industry and commerce. Beijing’s influence was strengthened under the Manchus
(the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911 AD), and was chosen as the seat of government for
the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Famous scenic spots include the Forbidden City（紫禁城）, which
is the biggest palace complex in the world, Tianmamen Square（天安門）, the
Great Wall（長城）, Yihe Summer Palace（頤和園）, Lugou Bridge（蘆溝橋）, which is mentioned in Marco Polo’s Tales, Xiang Shan（香山）,
Heaven Altar（天壇）, the Tombs of 13 Ming Emperors （十三陵）, Mao
Zedong’s Mausoleum（毛澤東紀念館）, and People’s Conference Hall（人民大會堂）. |
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Notes: *in real terms |
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Currently, the State Council is
studying the feasibility of building a magnetic levitation railway system in
Beijing. A likely choice is a railway
connecting the Capital International Airport with the central business district
of Beijing. Roadways － The roadway network in the Beijing region was
improved in recent years. With the
completion of the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangu Expressway（京津塘高速公路）, road freight vehicles can reach the ports
in Tianjin within
two hours. Other major roadways and
expressways that are built in recent years include the Jing-Chang Expressway （京昌高速公路）, the Beijing-Harbin Highway, and the
roadway that links the central business district in with the Beijing Capital
International Airport（首都國際機場）.
The Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway（京珠高速公路）is under construction. Air Transport － The Beijing Capital
International Airport is among the busiest in the country, providing access
to more than 60 domestic cities and about 40 overseas countries and regions. Planned expansion of the
Beijing Capital International Airport, includes an additional runway, a new
passenger terminal building and parking bays for many more aircraft. Upon completion prior to the Beijing
Olympics in 2008, the annual capacity will increase to over 50 million
passengers Telecommunications － The city has
direct-dial telephone and telegram links with all major foreign countries and
regions. The number of mobile
telephone subscribers exceeded 1.5 million at the end of 1999. Pager service, GSM network, Internet,
Smartnet, as well as other networks and Internet connections are becoming
popular. A total of RMB 180 billion has
been allocated for the continued expansion of telecommunications in Beijing
over the next five years. Environmental
Protection – The municipal
government plans to spend RMB 54 billion between 2003 and 2007 to complete 9
major environmental protection projects. |
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Beijing is keen to develop high-tech
industries such as electronic information, biological engineering and
pharmaceuticals; technology-intensive industries such a motor vehicles and
electronics; and basic industries such as metallurgy, chemicals and building
materials. Rapid growth has occurred in
the services sector. During the
1991-97 period, the tertiary sector grew at an annual rate of 13 per cent,
which was higher than that of the primary and secondary sectors. In 1999, the added value of the tertiary
sector grew by 9.4 per cent to RMB123.8 billion. The tertiary sector has surpassed the secondary industry to
become the biggest economic sector in Beijing, accounting for 57 per cent of
the city’s GDP. Currently, Beijing is trying to
build a Chinese Silicon Valley that rivals the one in the USA. In the next 15 years, the Beijing
government will invest US$30 billion to build a “Northern Micro-Electronic
Technology Base” in Zhongguancun, a leading High and New Technology
Development Zone. The government
plans to construct 10 semiconductor chip assembly lines by 2010. To boost investments in the zone, the
Beijing government offers incentives such as no land rents for 30 years and
tax reductions. In 2000, Beijing's total
external trade (imports plus exports) rose by 37.2 per cent to US$24.2
billion. Japan was Beijing's largest overseas market, followed by the USA,
Germany and Hong Kong. The city’s
exports increased by 20.6 per cent to US$7.6 billion. Major export goods included textiles and
garments, foodstuff, carpets, colour TV sets, steel products and hand tools. Beijing's imports increased by
37.2 per cent to US$16.6 billion in 2000.
Major import commodities were industrial equipment, textiles, light
industrial products and chemicals. |
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Beijing New
Technology Development Zone（北京新技術產業開發試驗區） The zone has an area of 100
square kilometres and, was set up in the north-western Haidian District（海淀區）in 1988.
The centre of the zone was situated at Zhongguancun New Technology
Development Zone（中關村新技術產業開發區）. By the end of 1999, there were 1,100 foreign-invested
firms in the zone, accounting for 17.7 per cent of the total investment of
US$3.3 billion. In addition, a 3 square
kilometre zone was set up in both Haidian and Shangdi to act as the
industrial and experimental base. The
Shangdi Information Industry Base（上地信息產業基地）, covering an area of 1.8 square
kilometres, is an industrial park for mass production of high-tech electronic
products. There are more than 230
technical and research institutions with 378,000 technicians in the zone,
accounting for some 60 per cent of the technical and research institutions of
Beijing. Information technology,
machinery, new materials and new energy, new medicine and bio-medical
industries are the pillar industries in the zone. A number of large enterprises
were established within this zone and some have been developed as
multinationals such as Legend（聯想）, Stone（四通）and Beida Founders（北大方正）.
Over 60 per cent of 1,000 foreign-owned high-tech enterprises in the
zone are in the field of electronics such as General Electric of the USA and
Matsushita, Hitachi, Fujitsu of Japan. Beijing Economic
& Technological Development Zone（北京經濟技術開發區） This has an area of 15 square
kilometres and was built in 1991 in Daxing County（大興縣）, along the Beijing-Tianjin
Expressway to attract foreign investment.
The zone was approved by the State Council in August 1994 to be a
state-level development zone. By the end of July 2000, there
were more than 690 enterprises in the zone, of which 205 were foreign-funded
with total investment of US$1.9 billion.
Among with the FIEs, at least 20 are multinational enterprises from
Canada, France, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and the USA. Those include Coca-Cola, General Motors,
ABB, SNC and Matsushita. Other municipal-level
development zones include Beijing Electronics
Zone （北京電子城）and Beijing Electronics Zone Airport
Scientific Area. Both of which are located adjacent to the Airport
Expressway. |
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Beijing's three traditional
shopping districts － Wangfujing（王府井）, Xidan（西單）and Qianmen（前門）－ are well known in the country. Major department stores which have strong
customer flows include Xidan Shopping Arcade（西單百貨商場）, Wangfujing Department Store（王府井百貨大樓）, Longfu Building（隆福大廈）, New Dong An Market（新東安巿場）and the Friendship Store（友誼商店）. A
new business complex, the Dongfang Plaza（東方廣場）, one of the biggest business complexes in
Asia, was opened in 2000. Beijing was chosen by the State
Council in 1992 as one of the 11 pilot cities where Sino-foreign joint
venture retail enterprises can be established. Two enterprises - the Beijing Lufthansa Shopping Centre（燕莎購物中心）and the New Dongan Shopping Arcade（新東安巿場）－ are now located in Beijing. In addition, two Sino-foreign JV chain
stores － Huatang Co.（華堂責任有限公司）and China Tuxu-Macro Co. （中土畜萬客隆有限公司）jointed by Netherlands Makro and Japan's
Itochu － were approved by the State Council. |
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Hong Kong Trade Development Council (http://www.tdctrade.com). |
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