II. Economy

(i)GDP Data

In 2005, total GDP in Heilongjiang province reached RMB 551 billion Yuan. The GDP per capita in the province is RMB 14,430 Yuan, equivalent to USD 1,762. The proportions of its primary, secondary and tertiary industries are respectively 12.2%, 54.9% and 32.9%.



(ii) Data on Resources, Industry and Agriculture

Land Resources

Heilongjiang currently possesses 9.905 million hectares of cultivated land, with higher soil organic substances than other provinces since it is located in one of the three world-famous dark soil belts. The main crops are soybean, wheat, corn, potato and rice, while the main cash crops include sugar beet, flax and tobacco, etc.
In the province there are 65 million hectares of grassland, growing high quality and nutritious grass, which is ideal for developing animal husbandry; the Songnen plain is ranked among the three largest sheep pastures in the world.

Forest Reserves

As one of the country’s largest forestry provinces, Heilongjiang is an“ecological demonstrate province”, which is being constructed by Chinese government. With its forest coverage rate at 43.6 %, the province has a forestry operation area of 31.75million hectares, accounting for 69.8% of the province’s land areas. Heilongjiang’s reserves of living trees are up to 1.5 billion cubic meters, ranking the first place in China in terms of total forest-covered area, total timber reserves as well as wood output volume. Heilongjiang is the nation’s major state-owned forest region and the largest timber production base with up to 100 species of trees, of which about 30 are of higher value.

Water Resources

There are many rivers and lakes within the territory of Heilongjiang province. Its five major water systems include Heilongjiang river, Wusuli River, Songhua River, Nen River and Suifenhe river. In addition, there are over 6,000 lakes and reservoirs, and the total water surface area is up to 800,000 hectares. Heilongjiang is abundant in water resources, with 70 percent of rainfall concentrated in the growth period of crops, thus, sufficient precipitation plus proper heat constitute a favorable climate for plants.

Mineral Resources

Heilongjiang is a major mineral resource-based province, with 132 varieties of minerals found and the reserves of 78 kinds verified. The reserves of oil, graphite, Sillimanite, basalt, marble, potassium feldspar ranks the first place in the nation. The coal reserves take the lead among the three provinces in Northeast China. 62kinds of minerals have been developed and utilized.

Resources of Wild Lives and Native Produce

There are 476 species of wild animals in the province, of which 17 species are subject to state first-grade protection such as Siberian tiger, red-crowned crane and white crane; 66 species like red deer, black bear and swan fall under the nation’s second-grade protection. There are 105 species of aquatic produce in the province, like the dog salmon, a kind of unique produce in the frigid region. And there are over 1,000 varieties of local products and mountain produce. Local growing plants for medicinal usage are of 856 species, 387 genus and 108 families, of which famous medicinal herbs inclued ginseng and acanthopanax, etc.

Industry

As one of China’s old industrial bases, Heilongjiang is the country’s major producer for energy, timber, industrial equipment and chemical raw materials. Along with the deepening of industrialization process, a relatively complete industrial system has been established, with heavy industry as the mainstay, with large enterprises as the backbone. The system focuses on industries such as machinery, metallurgy, power, petrol-chemistry, coal mining, forestry, construction materials, pharmacy, food processing, light-industry, and textile. The system plays a significant role in China’s industrial layout. Heilongjiang takes the leading position in the country in manufacturing of large pressure vessels, large mining equipment, complete sets of large power plant equipment, heavy-duty tandem rolling and continuous casting equipment, nuclear power facilities, heavy-duty NC machine tools, large combined harvesters, freight trains, automobiles and engines, multipurpose aircrafts, helicopters, regional aircrafts, large castings ＆ forgings, precision bearings and NC machine tools and measuring tools. The output volume of major products such as timber, crude oil, natural gas, raw coal and dairy products ranks among the first in the country.

Industrial Data

In the year of 2005, profit and tax created by industrial enterprises above designated size was 146.77 billion Yuan. The comprehensive index of industrial economic efficiency was 333.2.
The accelerating development of the “six major bases” contributes over 95% of total industrial economic growth in the province. The total industrial output value of the six bases, namely, assembling industry, petrol-chemistry, energy, food, pharmaceutical and wood processing has reached 438,38 billion Yuan.



Output of Main Industrial Products of Heilongjiang Province in 2005



Agriculture

Heilongjiang is the nation’s major grain producing area and commodity grain base, with years of development, five major agribusiness industries have come into being.

Grain Production

Heilongjiang is characterized by vast concentrated farmland and fertile soil. Its grain production has always been the fundamental industry of the province. The plantation area and yield of soybean, corn and rice rank the top places in the country. In 2005, Heilongjiang enjoyed another bumper harvest, with the total grain yield up to 36 million tons, creating another historical high.

Animal Husbandry

With large prairies and rich resources of crops straws, and with dairy cattle as the mainstay, animal husbandry in Heilongjiang is developing rapidly and has a tremendous potential for further development. The dairy cattle in stock and fresh mild output rank the first place in the country. The production of meat, eggs and milk keep increasing by a big margin. The output value of animal husbandry alone was 46 billion Yuan in 2005, accounting for 40% of total output value of agriculture, animal husbandry and fishery, making Heilongjiang a major province of animal husbandry in China.

Green Food Industry

Featured by green mountains, clean waters and unpolluted land, Heilongjiang is quite suitable for developing green food, organic food and pollution-free food. Green food has become the top image of new industries in Heilongjiang province. 324 green food production bases have been established in the province. The total plantation area of green food amounts to 2.327 million hectares while that of organic food amounts to 120.7 thousand hectares. The breeding volume of green livestock and poultry amounts to 12.86 million heads and the total production amounts to 15.81 million tons. With a total output value of 40 billion Yuan and 900 authenticated products, the province has become the largest green food production base in China.

Agricultural products processing

There are 1,050 enterprises specializing in the processing of agricultural products, which have benefited 1.6 million households of farmers as well as plantation bases with total area of 3.533 million hectares. The number of backbone processing businesses is still growing.

Development of Mountain Specialties

Great efforts have been made in developing mountain specialties such as pine nuts, hazel nuts, black fungus, hazel mushroom, ginseng, antler, acanthapanax, wild vegetables like brake tender leaves and vetch. The annual output of these specialties is more than 600,000 tons.

(iii) Data on Commerce

Import and Export Business

In the year of 2005, total import and export volume of Heilongjiang province reached USD 9.57 billion, increased by 40.9% over the precious year. The export volume was USD 6.07 billion while the import volume was USD 3.5 billion, increased by 64.9% and 12.6% respectively over the last year. The export volume to Russia market amounted to USD 3.84 billion. At the same time, export to Korea, USA and EU also enjoyed increase at different rate.
Depending on its unique geographic advantage, Heilongjiang province has made great achievements in opening up to the outside world with Russia, Japan and Korea as key trade and cooperative partners. Heilongjiang province has kept the top position for many years among provinces in China in term of trade with Russia. Up till now, Heilongjiang has established trade ties with more than 130 countries and regions in the world with export commodities reaching over 4,000.









Utilization of Foreign Direct Investment

In 2005, total FDI in Heilongjiang province amounted to USD 1.52 billion. The newly approved foreign direct investment projects reached 266, contracted foreign direct investment reached USD 1.975 billion, and FDI actually used reached USD 1.447 billion. 23 of the Fortune World Top 500 businesses have their investment in Heilongjiang.

Foreign Economic Cooperation

In 2005, Heilongjiang province singed 185 contracts on foreign economic cooperation projects including contracting engineering project and labor service projects with total contracted value of USD 450 million. For direct investment abroad, 54 new contracts were signed with total investment of USD 430 million including USD 390 million Chinese direct investment and 30 projects over USD 1 million. Helongjiang’s investment covered 38 countries and regions.

Commodity circulation