City Introduction of Zhejiang, China: Zhoushan

Major Economic indicators (2007)

Source: Zhoushan Economic and Social Development Report 2007

Introduction

Zhoushan, situated in the northeastern part of Zhejiang Province, is the only prefecture-level city in China that is composed solely of islands. Lying outside of the Hangzhou Bay, the city is seated south the mouth of the Yangtze River. Zhoushan Archipelago consists of 1,390 islands and 3,306 reefs. Zhoushan Main Island is the fourth largest island in China, following Hainan, Taiwan and Chongming islands.

Zhoushan Port is an important port area of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, which was the second largest port in China in terms of container throughput in 2007. Zhoushan Port has 19 deepwater berths. The cargo turnover at Zhoushan Port rose 12.3% to 1.3 billion tons in 2007, accounting for 41.4% of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port’s total. The Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport offers regular flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Wuyishan, Xiamen, Fuzhou and Guangzhou.

Zhoushan is rich in natural resources. It has over 1,163 species of marine plants and animals. The city also has rich oil and gas resources. The proven gas and light oil reserves in the city are 10.8 billion cubic meters and 10.8 million tons, respectively.

Economic Features

The GDP of Zhoushan rose 17.0% year on year to RMB 40.7 billion, ranking 12th in Zhejiang Province. The primary, secondary and tertiary industry contributed 11.0%, 43.7% and 45.3% to the city’s GDP, respectively. The value-added output from the marine economy, including port-related petrochemicals, aquatic products processing, shipbuilding, port logistics, shipping and marine tourism, grew 18.3% to RMB 26.2 billion, accounting for 64.5% of the city’s GDP.

The total gross industrial output in the city amounted to RMB 48.6 billion in 2007, with a rise of 29.4% from the previous year. Light industry and heavy industry generated RMB 27.1 billion and RMB 21.5 billion in gross industrial output, accounting for 56% and 44% of the city’s total, respectively.

Zhoushan’s major industries are aquatic products processing, shipbuilding, machinery, textiles and chemical fibers. The gross industrial output from these major industries in 2007 was RMB 46.7 billion, comprising 72.7% of the city’s total.

COSCO Zhoushan Shipyard is a subsidiary under China’s leading shipping carrier, China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO). It started operation in 2004 with total investment exceeding RMB 3 billion. It mainly focuses on shipbuilding and ship repairs.

Logistics and tourism are two major contributors to the city’s service sector. The value-added output from the logistic sector soared 13.8% to RMB 4.3 billion in 2007, more than one tenth of Zhoushan’s GDP.. With rich tourism resources, the city attracted over 13 million tourists in 2007, with total tourism revenue surpassing RMB 8.5 billion.

The total foreign trade in Zhoushan was US$4.1 billion in 2007, an increase of 50.3% over the previous year. The export value gained 47.1% year on year to reach US$2.4 billion in 2007. The export of aquatic products and ships topped US$1.6 billion, about two thirds of the city’s total export value. Major export destinations are the E.U., Japan, the U.S., and South Korea.

In 2007, Zhoushan approved 18 foreign-invested enterprises, with contractual foreign investments totaling US$192.6 million. The utilized FDI in the city hit US$75.2 million, a sharp rise of 50.2% from the previous year.