¡¡¡¡Historical Evolution

      Nanjing is a famous city for its rich culture and long history, known as one of the four great ancient capital cities in China. It has a history of over 6000 years of civilization and a history of over 2400 years of city building. The recent unearthed skull bone of the ancient ape-man at Tangshan in its eastern suburb clearly indicates that there were people living in the area of Nanjing as early as 350,000 years ago. From the 3rd century on up to the modern time, there were 10 dynasties [Eastern Wu, Eastern Jin, the Song, Qi, Liang and Chen (called as the "Six dynasties" in the history book), and Southern Tang, the Ming, the Kingdom of Heavenly Peace and the Republic of China] that made Nanjing the capital. Thus Nanjing has the name of "the ancient capital of the Six dynasties", or the name "a capital city of ten dynasties". All of them have left behind rich Chinese national and cultural heritages and relics in Nanjing.

¡¡¡¡Nanjing has its unique city features; its uniqueness lies in its cultural heritages of long history, its flourishing economy under modern civilization, and its spectacular landscape. Nanjing, as one of the economic, cultural, financial and commercial central cities both in the Yangtze River delta and in East China, is like a glittering pearl on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River; and is developing into an ecological city on the Yangtze River, which will embody highly developed economy, profound and elegant culture, beautiful environment, and a combination of the style and flavor of the ancient capital with modern civilization.

       Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, administers 11 urban districts (the districts of Xuanhu, Baixia, Gulou, Jianye, Qinhuai, Xiaguan, Yuhuatai, Qixia, Jiangning, Luhe and Pukou) and two counties (Lishui County and Gaochun County). It has a total territory of 6,597 square kilometers, of which the urban area is 4,730 square kilometers. The total constant residents are 6.4 million; the level of urbanization has reached 74%.

       Natural Condition

       Nanjing, abbreviated as Ning, is situated amid a hilly area in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. To its east is the fertile Yangtze River delta, and to its west the Wannan (southern part of Anhui Province) hilly areas; the valley of the Tai Lake is to its south and the Jianghuai plain to its north. The "golden waterway" of the Yangtze River runs through its territory; there is only 380 kilometers from Nanjing port to the mouth of the Yangtze River.

       Nanjing is located in the monsoon climate area of north subtropical zone, with very distinctive four seasons; it has abundant sunlight and rain precipitation. Its annual average temperature is 17.8¡c; sunlight 1686.5 hours; and the annual precipitation 1034 mm. In late June and early July every year, it is the "plum rainy season". The number of days with good quality air every year has reached over 280 days.

        Bestowed with many hills, rivers and lakes within its territory, Nanjing boasts very favorable natural resources and rich produce. There are over 40 types of minerals, of which the deposits of strontium are the largest in Southeast Asia, and the deposits of iron and sulfur make up about 40% of the total deposits of Jiangsu Province. There are also rich waterpower resources that can be tapped.

        Overall Strengths

        Nanjing comes out at the top of "China's 50 strongest cities" in terms of overall strengths evaluated by some Chinese authorities. Nanjing was ranked the sixth in the overall competitive strengths of all the Chinese cities evaluated in May 2003; and it is also regarded in the world as one of the Asian cities on the Pacific rim that will have the most prospective development in the 21st century. In the past few years Nanjing was awarded with several honorable titles: "the advanced city in technology advancement of China", "one of the first batch of excellent tourist cities in China", "a state-level garden city", "a state-level health city", and " a model city of environmental protection in China". 

        Nanjing is one of China's important economic centers and one of the four important centers of education and science and technology. Electronics, automobiles, petrochemicals, iron and steel, and electric power have become the five pillar industries of the city. Nanjing is concentrated with a large number of first-rank higher learning institutions and research institutes of China. Furthermore, Nanjing is also the hub of transportation and communications in East China. A transportation network combining different transport means with a high transporting capacity has been formed, including all the transport means of railway, highway, water, air and pipeline. And the communication system has also been modernized. Nanjing is the second largest commercial city in East China, only next to Shanghai, with well-developed markets, flourishing commerce and trade; and it is known as one of the "10 top cities" in the nation in terms of the total commodity retail values. 

        Recent years have seen rapid economic development in Nanjing: the average annual growth rate of GDP is 12.2%; the average annual growth rate of industrial values is 10%; the average annual growth rate of social fixed assets investment is 9.5%; and the average annual growth rate of export is 19.5%. The average annual growth rate of the main economic indicators is higher than both the provincial average and the national average. In 2003, its GDP reached 157.62 billion yuan (RMB), a 15.1% increase compared with the previous year, which was the highest increase rate in the past nine years. The financial revenue 33.5 billion yuan (RMB), an 18% increase. The spendable income per head for the urban residents increased by 11.3%; and the net income per head for the peasants increased by 7%. At present, among the 15 provincial cities of its kind in China, Nanjing is ranked the 3rd in the local financial revenue, the 4th in large industrial values, the 5th in GDP per capita, and the 8th in GDP.

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