City Introduction of Shandong, China: Tai'an

Tai'an

Major Economic Indicators (2007)

Source: Tai'an Economic and Social Development Report 2007

Introduction

Lying in central Shandong Province, Tai'an covers an area of 7,761 sq km and has a population of 5.4 million. It borders Jinan across Mount Tai to the north, Jining to the south, Laiwu and Linyi to the east and Laocheng across the Yellow River to the west. The city is among the first few cities that the State Council opened to foreign tourists in 1982.

The transportation network in Tai'an is well established. The Beijing-Shanghai Railway goes through the city, while the Beijing-Shanghai Highway and the Beijing-Fuzhou Highway intersect in the city. The Jinan-Heze Highway and the Tai'an-Laiwu Highway link the city with other major cities in Shandong Province. The Beijing-Shanghai Express Railway has a stop in Tai'an. Jinan Airport and Qingdao International Airport are located about 90 km and 150 km from the city center of Tai'an, respectively.

Tai'an has abundant mineral resources such as coal, iron, copper, gold, and aluminum. The proven iron ore reserves in Tai'an are about 345 million tons, while the proven aluminum ore reserves are about 3.6 million tons.

Economic Features

Tai'an is the tenth largest city in Shandong Province in terms of GDP in 2007. The city's GDP grew 16.1% from a year earlier to RMB 122.6 billion in 2007, comprising 4.7% of Shandong's GDP. The private economy generated value-added output of RMB 75.5 billion, contributing 61.6% to the city's GDP.

The industrial value-added output from the enterprises with designated size and above amounted to RMB 56.4 billion in 2007, representing an increase of 23.5% year on year, comprising 4.3% of Shandong Province’s total. Heavy industry and light industry realized industrial value-added output of RMB 44.5 billion and RMB 11.9 billion respectively, accounting for 78.9% and 21.1% of the city’s total.

Coal mining, steel and steel-related products manufacturing, non-metal products producing, auto and auto parts, equipment manufacturing and fine chemicals are the major industries in Tai'an. In 2007, the city produced 24.9 million tons of raw coal, 16.9% of Shangdong’s total, and 2.5 million tons of steel products, 5.1% of Shandong's total.

Taishan Construction Machinery, Shandong Yiteng Group, Ruixing Group and Shandong Chunchao Color Master-batch are the leading industrial groups in Tai'an. Tai'an Construction Machinery, lying at the foot of Mount Tai, was set up in 1996. It is a manufacturer and supplier of pipeline construction machinery.

Shandong Yiteng Group specializes in steel structures, chemicals and petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. It consists of 9 subsidiaries in mainland China. In 2006, the total assets of the group were over RMB 10 billion and its annual output value exceeded RMB 1.2 billion.

The value-added output from the service sector in Tai'an was increased by 19.0% year on year to RMB 40.5 billion, comprising 33.0% of the city's GDP. As a hot tourism destination in China, Tai’an saw tourism revenue rise 25.4% to RMB 11 billion, contributing about 6.7% of Shandong Province's total.

The total foreign trade value in Tai'an added up to US$1.4 billion in 2007, reflecting an increase of 36.5% year on year. The total export value and import value rose 24.0% and 65.5% year on year to US$850 million and US$490 million in 2007, respectively. Mechanical and electronic products are the major export products of the city. The E.U., the U.S., Japan, Latin America and Hong Kong are the major foreign trading partners of Tai'an.

In 2007, 105 foreign-invested projects were approved, with utilized FDI growing 23.3% to US$980 million. Wal-Mart, the U.S.-based retail giant, agreed in 2008 to invest RMB 250 million to open a supermarket in Tai'an.