Harbin
is the
capital of Heilongjiang Province. It is the province's
political, economic, scientific, educational and cultural center, as
well as the largest central city in the north part of Northeast China.
As the domain of Heilongjiang Province looks like a flying swan, Harbin
is known as a "pearl underneath the neck of the swan".
Harbin is located in the southwest part
of Heilongjiang Province and in the eastern part of the
Songhuajiang-Nenjiang Plain. It borders on Zhaodong City,
Lanxi County and Suihua City in the northwest, Bayan County,
Mulan County and Shangzhi City in the southeast, and Wuchang
County and Shuangcheng City in the southwest. It covers an
area of 18,376 sq km including 1,637 sq km urban area, of
which the established district's area accounts for 156.1 sq
km. It has a total population of 5.68 million including 3.23
million urban residents.
According to archaeological studies, human activity in The
Harbin area can be dated back to the Old Stone Age about 20,000 years
ago, and the area had gradually developed into a residence of northern
ethnic people in ancient China. In the 19th century, Harbin already had
about 100 villages including Qinjiagang, Majiagou, Sijiazi (the present
Daowai District), and Guxiangtun (the present Daoli District) with a
total population of more than 50,000 displaying the form of a city.
Harbin became a modern city in 1898 along with construction of the
Zhongdong Railway, and took shape in 1903 after the railway opened to
service. Between the 1920s and 1930s, it became a famous international
commercial port, where 16 countries set up consulates and people from
28 countries residing in Harbin engaged in trading and banking
business. On April 21, 1949, Harbin was under the administration of
Songjiang Provincial People's Government. On June 19, 1954, after
Songjiang Province merged into Heilongjiang Province, Harbin became the
capital of Heilongjiang Province.
One of the key transport hubs in
Heilongjiang Province as well as in Northeast China, Harbin
is where five railway lines meet and seven major highways pass through
to link the city to all corners of Northeast China. It is one of
China's eight major inland river ports, through which ships can sail
directly to Russia via the Songhua and Heilong rivers. The Harbin
Airport is one of China's large airports built by the Chinese
themselves, and it has 47 international and domestic air routes thus
paving the way for the expansion of foreign exchanges.
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Harbin
is a large city located in
China's highest latitude. Located in the eastern Asian
continental monsoon zone belonging to the central temperate
zone with continental monsoon climate, Harbin has long winter
and short summer with distinct four seasons. The annual temperature
average 3.5 degrees centigrade with the lowest temperature in January
averaging 19.4 degrees centigrade below zero, and the highest
temperature in July averaging 22.8 degrees centigrade. The city has an
annual sunshine period of between 2,460 hours and 2,786 hours, a
Frost-free period of 150 days, and a freezing period of 190 days. Its
annual precipitation averages 530 mm, and concentrates in July and
August.
Harbin's
topography is higher in southeast and lower in northwest,
sloping down from southeast to northwest with an average
altitude of 151 m above sea level. The hilly areas of the
Zhangguangcai Mountain Range lies in its southeast, and the lower-lying
Hulan River and Nihe River valleys in its northwest. The Songhua River
flows through its central part. The city's hills are not high and are
crisscrossed with rivers and vast
plains. The alluvial plains are distributed mainly in the central and
west parts. The low alluvial plains, located between 112 m and 130 m
above sea level, were formed by the Songhua, Hulan, Nihe and Ashi
rivers. The low plains and hillocks are
distributed in the central and western parts belonging to the
transitional belt between the area of floodplain and flood alluvial
plain at an altitude of between 120 m and 145 m.
Harbin
abounds in natural resources. It
has farmland, which has been reclaimed and cultivated for
years, as well as farms, grasslands, forest areas and fish
breeding waters to pave the way for the development of farm,
forestry, animal husbandry, farm produce and fishery. It has
five counties (cities) under its jurisdiction. Acheng City is rich in
metallic resources such as iron, copper, lead and zinc, and nonmetallic
resources including marble with a verified reserve of more
than 200 million tons, granite with a verified reserve of 400
million cu m, and quality stone materials with a verified reserve of
100 million cu m. Hulan County is known for its advanced farming and
one of the state market-oriented grain production bases. Binxian
County, one of the state market-oriented grain production
bases, enjoys the reputation of a "hometown of soybeans", and produces
more than 100 million kg of soybeans annually. It is also one of
China's major producing areas for quality flue-cured tobacco. Fangzheng
County has 195,000 ha of forests, 70% of its landmass. Major tree
species include Korean pine, northeast China ash, Chinese linden,
poplar and birch. It is rich in mountainous products, and collects some
500 tons of a dozen types of famous edible wild herb to export to Japan
and other countries. Major minerals include coal, iron, aluminum, lead,
zinc, alluvial gold, copper, crystal and marble. Yilan County has
187,000-ha of forest areas with the tree coverage reaching 28%, 10,000
ha of natural pasture land,
and 12,000 ha of water surface. The reserve of coal is estimated at
more than 270 million tons.
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Through 50 years of development, especially since China initiated the
reform and open policy in 1979, Harbin has grown into a comprehensive
city with such domestically advanced key industries as electronics,
bearing, pharmaceuticals, and flax.
It ranks 13th among the
top 50 cities in terms of economic strength in China, and is one of the
40 cities with the best investment conditions in the country. In 1995,
it generated gross domestic product (GDP) of 39.35 billion yuan, an
increase of 12.6% over the previous year, and the per capita GDP
averaged 6,917 yuan. Included were the added value of the primary
industry totaling 4.84 billion yuan. By the end of 1995, it had formed
73 enterprise groups. The Harbin Power Equipment Group Corporation is
one of China's leading power generating equipment
manufacturers. The number of power generating equipment it produced has
accounted for at least one third of the country's total.
Harbin is advanced in science, technology and education. It has 23
universities and colleges and more than 300 research institutes
employing 383,000 researchers and technicians. There are 603 scientists
and technicians among every 10,000 people in the state enterprises and
institutions. The contribution by scientific progress accounts for
32.28% of the economic growth. For every 10,000 people, 127 study in
colleges and universities, and 498 in middle schools. The rate of
making the nine-year compulsory education universal has
reached 55%. Harbin ranks sixth among Chinese cities in terms of
comprehensive strength of science and technology.
The city has completed a number of key
urban infrastructure projects. According to the plan for the urban road
network, it has built and transformed 19 overpasses, underground
pavements and footbridges; widened and constructed 20 trunk
urban roads such as the Inner Ring West Road and the
Zhongshan Road; completed Hayi gas and natural gas projects, and the
first, second and third phases of water supply facilities. It has built
and expanded the Majiagou Airport heating-supply and Nangang thermal
network projects and transformed Zhanqian Square. All urban telephone
switches have become program-controlled and digitized with a combined
capacity of 837,000 lines. So far, the tension for urban transport,
telecommunications, and the supply of gas, heat and water has been
eased. The infrastructure of transport has been further improved with
the completion of the Harbin Highway Passenger Transport Center, the
second entrance of the Ha-Tong Highway and a highway leading to the
airport. With the ever-improving environment, Harbin has been chosen as
one of China's "ten best cities of sanitation city" with a
comprehensive treatment in urban environment.
The Harbin High-Tech Industrial
Development Zone became a member of one of the first groups of state
high-tech industrial development zones with the State Council approval
in March 1991. At present, the zone covers 39.8 sq km. In 1995, its
gross industrial output value accounted for 16.06% of the city's total.
The zone has undertaken 938 high-tech industrial projects. The Harbin
Economic and Technology Development Zone became a state development
zone in April 1993, and has made headway in attracting investment and
large productive and high-tech projects. By the end of 1995, 299
enterprises funded by investors from 22 countries and regions had
settled down in the zone with a combined investment of 990 million U.S.
dollars. Of these enterprises, 109 had an investment of over million
dollars each, and 31 had investment of over 10 million dollars each.
The zone has generated a combined gross industrial output value of 5.5
billion yuan, and profits and taxes totaling 900 million yuan. It has
exported 14.36 million dollars worth of goods overseas.
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