City Introduction of Shanxi, China: Shuozhou

Major Economic indicators (2007)

Source: Shuozhou Economic and Social Development Report 2007

Introduction

Shuozhou is seated in the northern part of Shanxi Province. It is 200 km north of Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi, 129 km from Datong and 502 km from Beijing, the capital city of China. Inner Mongolia Plateau is adjacent to the city to the southeast.

Shuozhou covers an area of 10,662 sq km, of which 60% is mountainous and hilly area. With a typical continental monsoon climate, the city has distinct four seasons and an average temperature of 6.4℃.

The city is easily accessible by highway, rail and air. The Datong-Yuncheng Highway, which is linked with the Beijing-Datong Highway, goes through the city. The Suozhou-Huanghua Railway starts from the city, linking the city with other major cities in Shanxi Province and Hebei Province. Renhuai Airport, 90 km from downtown Shuozhou, and Pingshuo Airport provide regular flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an and other cities.

Shuozhou is home to 25 kinds of mineral resources, such as coal, kaolin, copper and quartz. The coal reserves in the city exceed 50 billion tons. The city also has an abundant supply of power. It generates over 15.9 billion kilowatts of electricity every year.

Economic Features

Shuozhou's economy is relatively small. In 2007, the GDP of the city grew 15.8% from a year earlier to RMB 33 billion, being the third smallest economy in Shanxi Province. The industrial sector, the leading contributor, realized RMB 20.2 billion in value-added output, making up 61.1% of the city's GDP.

The city is a coal mining base in Shanxi Province. In 2007, the coal output from the city increased by 16.4% to 108.2 million tons, nearly one fifth of Shanxi's total. Other major industries in the city include ceramics, raw chemicals and chemical products manufacturing, carbon products, metallurgy, electricity production and supply, and construction materials.

Examples of large companies in the city are Pingshuo Coal Mining Industrial and Shentou Power Plant. Pingshuo Coal Mining Industrial was set up in 1982. It covers several coal mines in Pingsuo Mining Area, such as Anjialing Mine and Antaibao Mine. The annual production capacity of Anjialing Mine is 15.4 million tons, and the annual production capacity of Antaibao Mine is 15 million tons.

Shentou Power Plant, located in Shentou Town of Shuozhou, was constructed by China and Czechoslovakia. It has 12 electricity generation units, with total installed electricity generation capacity of 3.3 million kilowatts. Shentou Power Plant consists of No.1 Shentou Power Plant and No.2 Shentou Power Plant. Stage II of No.2 Shentou Power Plant is still under construction.

The value-added output from the service sector in Shuozhou was up 15.3% to RMB 10 billion, accounting for 30.1% of the city's GDP. The sales of consumer goods increased by 24.5% year on year to RMB 8.2 billion. The growth rate ranked first in Shanxi.

The foreign trade in the city saw a strong growth. The foreign trade value in the city was US$65.4 million, with a sharp rise of 217% year on year. The export value increased by 10.2% to US$11.4 million. Coal, ceramic products and chemical products are the major export products from Shuozhou. The U.S., Japan, Germany and South Korea are the largest foreign trade partners of Shuozhou.

Shuozhou started accepting foreign investments in 1993. From 1993 to 2007, Shuozhuo utilized FDI of US$185.6 million accumulatively. The U.S.-headquartered Engelhard Corporation, which is a world's leading supplier of the catalysts used in the petroleum, chemical, and food industries, acquired Shanxi Shuozhou Anping Kaolin Co Ltd for RMB 100 million in 2006.