City Introduction of Shandong, China: Dezhou

Major Economic Indicators (2007)

Source: Dezhou Economic and Social Development Report 2007

Introduction

Dezhou, lying in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, is situated in the northwestern part of Shandong Province. It borders Hebei Province to the north, Jinan, the provincial capital of Shandong Province, to the south, Shanxi Province to the west and Shengli Oilfield in Dongying City to the east. The city has an ideal geographic location, as Shanxi is one of China's largest coal bases and Shengli Oilfield is one of the top oilfields in China.

Situated at the intersection of Shandong Province, Shanxi Province and Hebei Province, Dezhou is an important transportation hub in north China. The Beijing-Shanghai Railway, the Dezhou-Shijiazhuang Railway and the Jinan-Handan Railway join in Dezhou, while the Beijing-Fuzhou Highway and the Jinan-Liaocheng Highway go through the city. Jinan Airport is within 1-hour drive from Dezhou. Tianjin Port, the largest port in North China in terms of cargo traffic in 2007, is merely two hours' drive from the city.

Located in the temperate semi-humid monsoon climatic region, Dezhou is hot in summer and chilly in winter. The average temperature is about 12.3 C.

Economic Features

In 2007, the GDP of Dezhou rose 15.2% year on year to RMB 118.1 billion, ranking eleventh among the cities in Shandong Province and accounting for 4.6% of Shandong Province’s total. The city is largely supported by secondary industry, which generated value-added output of RMB 65.5 billion, comprising 55.5% of Dezhou's GDP.

The value-added industrial output from the enterprises with designated size and above grew 10.3% year on year to RMB 56.3 billion, of which 20.5% is attributable to new and high-tech enterprises. Central air-conditioning systems, sugar manufacturing, solar energy production and supply, and auto and auto parts are the major industries in Dezhou.

Dezhou has become the production hub of central air-conditioning systems. A total of 105 enterprises are engaged in this industry, which had sales revenues exceeding RMB 5 billion and took a 12% market share in China in 2007. Major central air-conditioning systems producers in the city include Shandong Grad Group, Dezhou Yatai Group and Midsouth Group.

Shandong Grad Group, headquartered in Dezhou, covers an area of 450,000 square meters. Its major products are central air-conditioning systems, winding pipelines, storage jar systems and other compound material systems.

Other leading industrial enterprises in the city include Shandong Demian Group, Huaneng Group Dezhou Power Plant, Jinhua Group. Shandong Demian Group, set up in 1997, is a major textile and garment producer. In 2007, the sales revenue of this group exceeded RMB 1.4 billion. Huaneng Group Dezhou Power Plant is a subsidiary under Huaneng Group, one of China's top four power suppliers. The installed capacity of this plant surpasses 2.5 million kilowatts.

The service industry generated value-added output of RMB 36.7 billion in 2007, up 18.7% year on year. It contributed 31.1% to the city's economy. The tourism industry saw a stable growth, and its total revenue rose 34.6% year on year to RMB 2.1 billion.

The city’s foreign trade value grew 53% year on year to US$1 billion, comprising 879 million in export value and 163 million in import value. The export value of raw chemicals and chemical products and mechanical and electronic products made up 32.2% and 24.5% of the city's total export value, respectively.

Investors from over 30 countries and regions have invested in Dezhou. The utilized FDI in the city sky-rocketed from US$0.4 million in 1987 to US$136 million in 2007. The foreign direct investments mainly go into the electronic information, bio-technology, new materials and precision machinery industries.