City Introduction of Jiangsu, China: Nanjing

Nanjing

Major Economic indicators (2007)

Source: Nanjing Economic & Social Development Report 2007

Introduction

Nanjing is the capital city of Jiangsu Province. With a population of 7.41million, it covers 6,501 km² of the lower Yangtze River Delta. The city is located in the northern area of the province. As an important regional hub in Yangtze River Delta, Nanjing intersects both the Beijing-Shanghai Railway and Nanjing-Tongchuan Railway. It has direct trains to Shanghai (3 hours), Hangzhou (5.5 hours), Beijing (7.5 hours), Tianjin (7 hours) and other major cities.

Over 60 national and provincial highways connect Nanjing with other cities of China.., Express Highways such as Shanghai-Nanjing, Nanjing-Hangzhou and Nanjing-Hefei give the city easy access to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Hefei and other local cities.

It also boasts a convenient waterway and airway network. Port Nanjing is the largest inland-river petrochemical and liquid chemical products transfer port in China. It was also the third largest port in China in terms of cargo throughput in 2007, with cargo throughput exceeding 1 million TEUs. The Nanjing Lukou International Airport, ranked tenth in cargo throughout and fourteenth in passenger turnover in 2007, offers 85 routes to domestic and international cities such Beijing, Singapore, Bangkok, Osaka and Kuala Lumpur.

Economic Features

In 2007, Nanjing’s economy grew by 15.6% from a year earlier to RMB 327.5 billion, ranking 14 among all the cities on mainland China. It is the third largest economy after Suzhou and Wuxi in Jiangsu province. The value added from its secondary and tertiary industries hit RMB 160.5 billion and RMB 158.4 billion, contributing 49.0% and 48.4% to the city’s GDP respectively.

Meanwhile, the city generated RMB 579.2 billion in gross industrial output value from enterprises with the designated size and above. The four mainstream industries of the city- electronics, petrochemical, steel and automobile, have realized a gross industrial output value of RMB 398.5 billion, accounting for 68.8% of all the enterprises of the designated size and above in the city.

The software industry generated RMB 36 billion sales revenue in 2007, 20 times the figure in 2000, accounting for 6.2% of China's total. Taiwanese IT giant Foxconn set up its first Chinese mainland software base in the city in 2007.

Nanjing Automobile Corp, set up in 1947, is the maker of China's first light truck. It manufactures over 400 models and acquired the assets of Britain's MG Rover Corp for US$87.5 million in 2005, making it the first Chinese manufacturer to purchase a foreign one.

By the end of 2007, the foreign trade value of Nanjing had amounted to US$36.2 billion, a rise of 14.8% over the preceding year. The export value stood at US$ 20.6 billion, up 18.6% year-on-year. Its major foreign trade partners included Asia, Europe and North America, which imported US$18.2 billion worth of products, taking up 88% of the city’s total export value. The most important export products were mechanical and electrical products, which amounted to US$11.4 billion, accounting for nearly one third of total products exported.

Nanjing has also witnessed fast growth in foreign investment. In 2007, the FDI edged up 22.8% year-on-year to US$3.8 billion, with utilized FDI increasing by 20.1% year-on-year to US$2.1 billion. The 12 state and province-level development zones in the city have attracted contracted FDI of US$2.9 billion, accounting for 76.3% of the city’s total. The utilized FDI of the 12 zones jumped 39.2% year-on-year to US$1.5 billion, making up 71.4% of the city’s total.

Nanjing is also an educational hub in Jiangsu province. There are 41 universities and 80 secondary vocational schools, which have 677,900 and 105,100 students respectively. Nanjing University, Hohai University, Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics and Southeast University are highly reputated in China.

Nanjing lags behind Suzhou and Wuxi in foreign investment. In 2007, Suzhou and Wuxi attracted US$18.5 billion and US$5.4 billion FDI, much higher than Nanjing’s. While there is disparity in the level of foreign investment, Nanjing is an old industrial base with state-owned enterprises. These enterprises have now been restructured and reformed and are witnessing staggering growth.

Furthermore, Nanjing enjoys a good strategic location and a large talent pool. It is expected to catch up with other large economies in the province in the future.