Brief Introduction of Xiamen

Natural Geography

Xiamen is situated on the southeast coast of Fujian Province , at the estuary of Jiulong River . It lies at 118degree 04' 04'' east longitude and 24degree 26' 46'' north latitude.

At the back of Xiamen lies the Zhangzhou-Quanzhou Plain and facing Xiamen across the Taiwan Strait are Taiwan Island and the Penghu Islands .

Xiamen City comprises Xiamen Island proper, Gulangyu (Gulang Islet) and the coastal part of north Jiulong River . It has a land area of more than 1565.09 square kilometers and a sea area of 300 square kilometers. The island proper covers an area of 133 square kilometers, with a length of 13.7 kilometers from south to north and a width of 12.5 kilometers from east to west. The topography of Xiamen is characterized by a gradual descent from the south to the north, with the northwestern part being relatively flat and the southern part mountainous and hilly. The Yunding Rock, which stands 339.6 meters above sea level, is the highest peak in the south. The Xiamen Habour, which is a harbour of the strait type, has a coastal line that zigzags to 234 kilometers. It is a natural haven with deep water that is ice-free all the year round. In most parts of the harbour, the water is above 12 meters deep. The islands scattered all along the waters beyond the harbour form a natural barrier to protect the harbour from turbulent waves, whereas the mountains surrounding the harbour provide excellent windbreak. Because of such favourable conditions, Xiamen has always been an important seaport of foreign trade on the southeast coast of China ever since the ancient times.

Xiamen has a subtropical climate. It is generally mild and temperate, with abundant rainwater. It has an average annual temperature of approximately 21C. Winter in Xiamen is not harsh while summer is free from extreme heat.The city has an average annual rainfall of about 1200mm, mainly concentrated on the months from May to August. Wind power measures between Grade 3 to 4 in general, with northeast wind representing the dominant wind direction. Because of the air currents resulting from the difference in temperature in the Pacific, Xiamen is affected by typhoon three to four times annually on average, which mainly comes during the months from July to September.

At the end of 1999, the population of the whole city was 1,290,000, 99.3% of which are the Han, and the rest is made up of more than 20 ethnic groups, including the Hui, Manchu, Zhuang, She, Miao, and the Gaoshan. South Fujian Dialect is the language which is predominantly spoken in Xiamen .

History & Development

Xiamen is situated on the south coast of Fujian Province , at 24degree 26' 26'' north latitude and 118degree 04' 04'' east longitude. It covers a land area of 1565.09 square kilometers and sea area of over 300 square kilometers. Currently there are seven districts under the administration of Xiamen : Gulangyu, Siming, Kaiyuan, Xinglin, Huli, Jimei and Tong'an. The language predominantly spoken in Xiamen is South Fujian Dialect.

The history of Xiamen dates back to the ancient times. It was part of Tong'an County, which was established in the 3rd year of Emperor Taikang's reign in the Jin Dynasty (282 A.D.). The County was first under Jin'an Prefecture but was later merged into Nan'an County. In the 19th year of Emperor Zhengyuan's reign in the Tang Dynasty (803 A.D), Datong Square was set up in Southwest Nan'an County and later became Tong'an County under Quanzhou in the 4th year of Emperor Changxing's reign in the Late Tang Dynasty (933 A.D). During the Song Dynasty, the place was under the rule of Qingyuan Army and Pinghai Army of Quanzhou. Then it was under the government of Quanzhou Province in the Yuan Dynasty and later Quanzhou Borough in the Ming Dynasty. It was not until the 20th year of Emperor Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty (1387) that Xiamen Town was built. Later in the Qing Dynasty in the 7th year of Emperor Sunzhi's reign (1650), Xiamen was the place where Zheng Chenggong, the national hero, stationed his troops. In the 12th year (1655) the Siming Prefecture was established but was abolished in the 19th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1680). In the 23rd year (1684) the Tai-Xia Dao (Taiwan-Xiamen Defense Region) was established, with the Chief Magistrate ruling from Taiwan . (In the 6th year of Emperor Yongzheng's reign, namely 1728, Taiwan Borough was changed into Taiwan Region.) In the 25th year (1686) departments were set up in Quanzhou Prefecture to rule over the area. In the 5th year of Emperor Yongzheng's reign (1727) the Xingquan Region, (which was changed into Xingquanyong Region) was established in Xiamen to instead of in Quanzhou, its original settlement. In the 29th year of Emperor Guangxu's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1903), Gulangyu Islet fell into the hands of foreign invaders and became an International Settlement. In the first year of the Republic of China (1912), Siming County was established in April, encompassing Jiahe Neighbourhood of Tong'an County (namely Xiamen ), Jinmen Islet and the Dadeng/Xiaodeng Islets. The same year in September saw the establishment of Siming Borough. Later in 1915, Jinmen Islet and the Dadeng/Xiaodeng Islets were separated from the Siming County to form Jinmen County themselves. In the same year Nanlu Region, (which was changed to the name of Xiamen Region in 1914 but was abolished in 1925) was set up.

In 1933 Xiamen was established as a special municipality by the "People's Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China" (namely "Fujian People's Government"). In 1934, both Tong'an County and Siming County belonged to the Fifth Administrative Region (with Tong'an as the capital). In April 1935 the Xiamen Municipality was set up, encompassing seven islets including Xiamen and Gulangyu. The original Siming County was abolished and the Heshan Special Zone was set up instead. The Xiamen Municipality and the Heshan Special Zone together with Tong'an County were subject to the government of the Fourth Administrative Region (with Tong'an as the capital). During the period from May 1938 to September 1945, Xiamen was in the hands of Japanese invaders. In October 1945 Xiamen was re-established as a city, which comprised four districts: Zhongxin (later renamed as Siming), Kaiyuan, Gulangyu and Heshan. September and October of 1949 witnessed the liberation of Tong'an County and Xiamen City in succession. Tong'an became part of the Fifth Prefecture (later changed to the name of the Prefecture of Quanzhou and the Prefecture of Jinjiang ) while Xiamen became a municipality under the government of the province. In October 1950 five districts were set up in Xiamen : Kaiyuan, Siming, Gulangyu, Xiagang (abolished later) and Heshan. In 1953, Jimei Town of Tong'an County came to be under the administration of Xiamen . In January 1958 Heshan District was changed into suburbs. In August of the same year Tong'an County was separated from the Jinjiang Prefecture to become an administrative district under Xiamen . In August 1966, Kaiyuan District and Siming District were renamed Dongfeng and Xiangyang respectively (but the original names were restored in October 1979). In February 1970, Tong'an County was again divided from Xiamen to be under the administration of Jinjiang Prefecture but was later returned back to Xiamen in June 1973. In September 1978 Xinglin District was established, and a new district, the Huli District, was further set up in 1987. In the same year, the suburbs of Xiamen became Jimei District. In 1997, Tong'an became a district attached to Xiamen instead of a county.

Administrative Divisions Outline

There are seven districts under the administration of Xiamen City . They are: Siming, Kaiyuan, Gulangyu, Huli, Jimei, Xinglin, and Tong'an. The Special Economic Zone is made up of the four districts located in Xiamen Island proper, namely Siming, Kaiyuan, Gulangyu, and Huli. Siming District is mainly composed of downtown areas and commercial localities, whereas Kaiyuan District mainly consists of factory areas and new urban centres. Gulangyu District is a well-known tourist resort and Huli Disrict is a newly developed industrial and investment zone. As for the three districts outside the island proper, Jimei District is primarily based on agriculture, but also includes Jimei Town, a well-known hometown for overseas Chinese, a place noted for tourism and education; Xinglin is an industrial district of considerable size, and a district for Taiwanese investment; Tong'an is a production base providing agricultural and sideline products for the whole city, and also a base to supply materials for light-industrial and food sectors.

National Economy and Social Undertakings in Xiamen

2000 is the last year in "Ninth-Five-Year Plan" program. Under the leadership of Xiamen Commission of CPC and city government, Xiamen people implemented in real earnest the spirit of the 15th National Congress Meeting and the Fifth Session of the 15th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Catching hold of the favorable opportunities brought about by national positive financial policies and a series of economic micro-control policies and the improvement of world economic situation, Xiamen made great efforts to conquer the negative effects on economic development by Xiamen smuggle case and natural disasters like frost at the beginning of the year. Reforming was deepened, economic environment improved and economic tasks in all round were advanced. As a result, national economy of the city kept its growing pace, new achievements were made in all social undertakings, many economic targets were fulfilled ahead of plan, four breakthroughs were made-- a breakthrough on 50 billion yuan limit of GDP, a breakthrough on 10 billion US dollars limit of foreign trade value, a breakthrough on one million TEU limit of handling volume as a container port, and a breakthrough on ten thousand yuan limit of disposable income of urban residents per capita.

Development of National Economy

National economy experienced a rapid growth. In 2000, the GDP of Xiamen increased by 15.2% to 50.187 billion yuan, 1.2 percent points higher than the yearly plan and doubling that of 1995. During "Ninth-Five-Year Plan" program, Xiamen 's economy was increasing by an annual average rate of 15.7%. The added value of the primary industry reached 2.124 billion yuan, increasing by 4.5% compared to the previous year. The added value of the secondary industry reached 26.502 billion yuan, increasing by 4.5%. The added value of the tertiary industry reached 21.561 billion yuan, increasing by 12.1%. Structure proportion of the three industries was readjusted to be 4.2:52.8:43.0 from 4.8:51.8:43.4 of the previous year.

By looking at overall demands, export took the place of fixed capital investment and became the main driving force in economic development. The situation of economy being pushed forward by investment from fixed capital in the former years was greatly changed. Export trade and increasingly expanding consumption became the main drawing force in the fast growing economy. Of the 15.2% increasing rate of GDP in 2000, 10.1 percent points were driven by export trade, increasing by 5.9 percent points compared to the previous year; 5.3 percent points were driven by consumption, increasing by 0.9 percent point; -0.2 percent point was driven by investment, falling 6.5 percent points.

By looking at overall supplies, the growth of economy was mainly driven by the secondary and tertiary industries. But of the secondary industry, only industry sustained a vigorous growing trend. The decrease of construction industry exercised negative influence over the development of the secondary industry. As a result, the secondary industry of 2000 drove 1.2 percent points of the growth of overall economic, decreasing by 1.5 percent point compared to 1999. The tertiary industry still took the first place. Due to the strong uptrend of export trade and sales of real estate, and the picking up of consumer goods market and financial industry, the tertiary industry played an important role in economic development and drove it by 4.2 percent points, up 1.9 percent points compared to 1999.

As a coast defense front, Xiamen was weak in both economic power and economic basis before reform and opening up. In 1980, GDP of Xiamen came to be 0.64 billion yuan, total revenue 0.183 billion yuan, total industrial output 0.943 billion yuan, and investment by fixed capital 0.122 billion yuan, retail sales of social consumer goods 0.297 billion yuan, and disposable income for urban residents per capita 406 yuan. The establishment of Xiamen special economic zone was approved by the State Department in October, 1980. A year later, Huli Industrial Area for Export Processing was initiated in a 2.5-sq. kilometre land in the northwest corner of Xiamen and the special economic area was further expanded to the whole island in March, 1984. In April, 1988, Xiamen was empowered with both provincial-level authorities in economic administration and local legislative power. Later came the approval of the status of Xiamen SEZ, Xiangyu Bonded Zone and Taiwanese Investment Zones in Haicang, Xinglin and Jimei under the jurisdiction of Xiamen . So far, a new, all-round and high-level structure of special economic zone opened to the outside world was established step by step.

Xiamen completed the construction of a series of infrastructures, such as, airport, wharfs, post & telecommunication, telegraphic railway, cross-sea bridge, Shigu Shan Crossroads, city water supply, power supply, roads, and etc. Industrial area, investment area and development zone were developed in large pieces in Huli, Haicang, Xiangyu and Torch Hi-tech Garden. The rebuilding and broadening of some old city parts and arterial roads were also finished. As Haicang Cross-sea Bridge, one of the nation's key projects, was opened to traffic and the first phase project of Haicang Railway and 100 thousand-ton-level channel of Xiamen port were completed, Xiamen owned a further modernized traffic network of land, sea and air and relatively advanced information communication system and city road net. The city's function as a carrier was evidently reinforced and investment environment further improved. Since 1981, fixed capital investment of Xiamen added up to 128.9 billion yuan; ready constructed area of the city reached 81.89 sq. kilometres; Xiamen Port handled over 19.6526 million tons of cargoes; the handling volume of airport, railway station and cargo services reached 3,551.5 thousand passengers, 2,543.6 thousand passengers and 2,054.7 thousand tons respectively.

Since the establishment of special economic zone in Xiamen , the causes of science, education, public health and sports began their thriving period. To the end of 2000, there were 912 schools at all levels, including 3 ordinary colleges, 12 technical secondary schools, 56 ordinary middle schools, 16 secondary vocational schools, 372 elementary schools, 445 kindergardens, 5 special education schools and 3 skilled workers' schools. 84,447 students were enrolled over the year and 319,575 students were at school. To the end of 2000, there were 26,018 teaching and administrative staff members in Xiamen and 18,980 of them were professional teachers. Xiamen was the first city in Fujian Province to make nine-year compulsory education universal. Schools appraised as "First Class Middle Schools of Fujian Province" included No.1 Middle School, No.8 Middle School, No.6 Middle School of Xiamen and Tong'an No.1 Middle School. The education cause of Xiamen was ranking at a fairly higher level.

To the end of 2000, Xiamen has newly built or expanded the building of many medical establishments like Shongshan Hospital , Huli Hospital , Haicang Hospital , International Eye Center , Blood Center , Xiamen No.1 Hospital, Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine , Cardiovascular Research Center and Emergency Treatment Center . To the end of 2000, Xiamen owned 583 medical institutions of various kinds, 22 hospitals, 5,493 hospital beds, 7,791 medical workers, 7,054 medical technicians, 1,858 workers with an technical title of engineer-in-charge or above. There were 284 natural villages installed with 333 medical stations and 876 country doctors or health workers. Cooperative medical treatment or hospitalization insurance was carried out among 93 villages. Medical and health condition in Xiamen was greatly improved.

Publications of Xiamen include Xiamen Daily, Xiamen Economic Daily, Xiamen Evening Paper, Haixia Daobao, Xiamen Radio and TV Guide, Xiamen SEZ Workers, Xiamen Lu Feng Paper, and etc. Since the establishment of Xiamen TV station in 1982, Xiamen had set up one radiovision station with 2 channels and one CATV station with 2 channels. In 1999, Xiamen CATV joined provincial TV web. With the efforts of Xiamen People's Broadcasting Station in 1993, special channels for music, economy and news were born serving Xiamen people 24 hours a day. Xiamen was also equipped with many cultural facilities like Gulangyu Musical Hall, People's Theater, City Library, and etc. The Little Egret Folk Dance Troupe set up in 1993 had made many performance visits to foreign countries on invitation and enjoyed tremendous popularity.

Physical culture was flourishing in Xiamen and a number of world champions like Guo Yuehua and Ji Xinpeng were originated here. In world competitions of 2000 alone, athletes from Xiamen won 1 championship, 1 runner-up and 1 third prize. At the 27th Olympic Games, Ji Xinpeng, a badminton sportsman, won men's badminton singles gold which was also the first singles gold won by Fujian sportsmen at Olympic Games. Six first prizes in four events were won at national games by five Xiamen athletes and 85 gold medals, 61 silver medals and 63 bronze medals were acquired by Xiamen team in provincial competitions. Xiamen Football Team, the first professional football team in Fujian Province organized by Xiamen Football Club in 1996, was successfully upgraded to A group of the top grade in 1999.

Through half a century's development and construction, Xiamen has turned from a former close seaport town to a modern beautiful harbour view city with complete infrastructures, powerful economic strength, vibrant foreign exchanges and affluent living conditions for her people. Xiamen has been successively has accredited as a National Sanitary City, National Garden City, National Model City for Environmental Protection, National Excellent Tourist City, National Advanced City for Prospering City Through Promoting Science and Education, National Advanced Port City for Building Spiritual Civilization.

Economic strength was notably enhanced and industrial structure was further optimized. In 2000, the GDP exceeded 50 billion yuan to be 50.187 billion yuan which was 28.9 times of 1980, with an annual average increase of 18.3%. The proportions taken by the primary, secondary and tertiary industries in national economy were 4.2%, 52.8% and 43.0% respectively. Total revenue of the year amounted to 9.15 billion yuan, 49 times that of 1980.

City scope was continually expanded and investment environment became more favorable. Xiamen has
1. constructed one after another an airport of first class at national level, a harbour listed among the nation's top ten, advanced information communication system, highway network consisted of expressways, Xiamen Bridge and Haicang Bridge;
2. electrified Xiamen-Yingtan railway which added to the forming of the three-dimensional traffic system and modern communication network;
3. constructed a high standard arterial road web comprising of Hubing Road, Lianqian Road, Jinshang Road, the thoroughfare before the City Government building, Huandao Road, and etc;
4. completed a batch of city infrastructures, including Songyu Power Plant, 500kv transformer substation, water-drawing project, sewage system, gas pipe-lines, and etc;
5. reconstructed some old city parts in Xiahe Road , Zhongshan Road , Lujiang Road and Jiangtou.
Through tens of years development, Xiamen SEZ takes on an entirely new look and investment environment is further optimized.

An export-oriented economic pattern giving priority to industry was formed. Many well-known multinational companies such as ABB, Linde, Matsushita, Taikoo and etc. along with numerous dynamic medium and small size enterprises from foreign countries and regions have established more than 4000 foreign-funded enterprises in Xiamen . The city's total industrial output in 2000 amounted to 77.636 billion yuan which was 76.2 times that of 1980. With an export delivery value of 31.504 billion yuan, industry has become the main drawing force for economic growth. Foreign revenue of Xiamen reached 3.383 billion yuan, accounting for 37.21% of the city's total revenue. Foreign trade value added up to 10.049 billion US dollars which was 70.22 times that of 1980.

Foreign invested enterprises have become an important stream in the development of Xiamen export-oriented economy. To the end of 2000, Xiamen had approved 4991 contracts with foreign investment. Contractual foreign investment amount added up to 17.526 billion US dollars and 11.452 billion US dollars were put into actual operation. Industrial enterprises with foreign, Hongkong , Taiwan and Macao investment generated an output value of 59.355 billion yuan in 2000, accounting for 84.83% of the total industrial output value by industrial enterprises above designated size. Foreign investment covered the fields of electronics, chemical industry, textile, foodstuff, electric power, real estate, finance, and etc. Among them, 65 were in the primary industry, 2396 in the secondary industry and 3261 in the tertiary industry.

Social security system has experienced sound progress and residents lead a comparatively well-off life. Statistics show that throughout the whole year laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises were provided with basic living expenses of 14.3461 million yuan, while endowment insurance, unemployment insurance and medical insurance amounting to 2,426,400 yuan, 328,700 yuan and 1,097,600 yuan respectively had been drawn. To the end of 2000, 8,769 units had registered for endowment insurance, covering 407,400 employees, while 10,629 units had registered for unemployment insurance, covering 357,600 employees. Payment drawn by the social security fund reached 95%, basically having achieved the goal of full covering of social secuity system. Incomes of both urban and rural residents were largely increased. Compared to 1980, disposable income of urban residents per capita had gone up 25.65 times to 10,813 yuan, while net income of rural residents per capita had gone up 18.2 times to 4,030 yuan. Living environment and consumption capability were also greatly improved. In 2000, a total residential area of 2,323,400 sq. meters were completed, retail sales of social consumer goods totaled 16.964 billion yuan which was 56.11 times that of 1980, while the average expenditure on consumption per person reached 9,047 yuan. The long-cherished well-off life has been realized ahead of schedule.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 [Origin:Xiamen Government Website]