Jiangyin

Economy and Environment

Jiangyin is traditionally a farming land on the southern Jiangsu Plain and the agricultural income is the major portion of the city's revenue. Its agricultural produces primarily include rice, wheat, cotton, rapeseeds, etc. Now the agricultural earning only occupies 1-2% of the total GDP of the city.

The rapid economic expansion and industrialization over the past decades has turned the city to a wealthy municipality and the industrial income is becoming the prominence. The industrial sectors have gained enormous investments from national and international enterprisers and have brought the city the new economic capacity. The joint industrial development has emerged in Jiangyin's urban area, towns and rural communities and this coalition greatly increases the economic booming. Now Jiangyin is topped the list of China's Top 100 Counties (county-level cities) in 2007 and several other national rankings referring to economy, hygiene, ecology, and more.

The so-called Chinese best and worthiest township, Huaxi Village, is located in Jiangyin City. The township has a population of thirty thousands and a physical size of around 30 square kilometers. The village is advocated by Chinese government as the model for prosperity and improvement of rural economy. Average income for residents in the township can reach $10,000 USD annually, the highest in all China's rural economies.

The city was historically important as a major port on the Yangtze River. Its new port area enhances its capacity for waterway transportation. Waterway trade across the Pacific Ocean is traditionally important, carrying out since Tang Dynasty. The major trade partners include Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia.

Economic growth and environmental conservation have always seemed like two different approaches. As a sprawling metropolis, Jiangyin has experienced environment damage from its industrial sectors. The municipal government has been putting stiff environmental policies into practice over years. The city has spent $12.3 million in 2004 only to clean polluted rivers and to plant trees along its major roads. The city has also closed all mines to protect the nearby mountains from being overmined. More than 90% of companies in Jiangyin are noted as having significantly reduced its pollution since the environmental efforts were put into place. The city is listed as the best Chinese city in environment protection.

Economic Development Zone

Jiangyin Economic Development Zone was founded in 1992 and endowed with the economic approving right and administrative rank for a state-level development zone by Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the CPC and Jiangsu Provincial Government in 2002. In 2008, the development zone realized industrial and commercial sales revenue of RMB 102 billion yuan and a fiscal revenue of RMB 3.48 billion yuan. At present, there are 10 projects each with an investment of over USD100 million and 10 enterprises invested by Fortune 500 companies. R&D institutions such as Bekaert's Asia R&D Center and DSM's R&D Center in Asia and Pacific area have also entered the development zone.

Currently, Jiangyin Economic Development Zone has completed the construction of 308,000 square meters of carriers featuring innovation, creation and practice, which possess the regional characteristics of Jiangyin and have been ratified as the Experimental Unit of China Production-Study-Research Cooperative Innovation Demonstration Base. The High-tech Business Start-up park has been promoted to be a state-level business start-up center, the Yangtze River International Bio-pharmaceutical Incubation Park been approved as a provincial-level practice service center, and the Yangtze River Information & Software Park entitled Jiangsu Provincial Software & Information Service Industrial Park. Moreover, the development zone takes the lead among China's county-level cities in the establishment of technological enterprise accelerators. During the "11th Five-year Plan" period, the development zone will make great efforts to build itself into a new modernized technology town with innovative vigor, excellent investment environment, ecological charm, combining elements of a modern city such as high-tech industries and a pleasant living environment.