Chapter 7.9: Jiangsu Province

Overview

Jiangsu Province borders on the Yellow Sea in the east and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River in eastern China. Its terrain is the lowest in China with part of it lying 50 metres below the sea level. Plains cover 68 per cent of the province, hills 15 per cent and rivers and lakes 7 per cent. Jiangsu has a total area of 102,600 square kilometres and a population of 73.54 million, making it the most densely populated province in China. Jiangsu was the second strongest economy in China after Guangdong in terms of GDP. The main economic centres are Nanjing (the capital city of Jiangsu), the coastal port cities of Lianyungang, Nantong and Xuzhou, as well as the fast-growing industrial belt of Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou in the south. Major economic indicators are shown in Table 7.9.1.

Table 7.9.1: Major economic indicators, Jiangsu Province

Description	2000	2001
Population (millions)	73.25	73.54
Gross domestic product (billion RMB)	858.273	951.46
GDP (thousand RMB)	11.773	12.925
Disposable income per capita (thousand RMB)	6.800	3.594
Urban residents
Rural residents 7.375	3.785
Savings (billion RMB) [*]	839.89	970.07
Investment in fixed assets (billion RMB)	256.997	330.3
Value-added of primary industry (billion RMB)	103.117	108.84
Value-added of secondary industry (billion RMB)	443.589	491.37
Value-added of tertiary industry (billion RMB)	311.567	351.25
Total retail sales of consumer goods (billion RMB)	260.41	286.90
Source: China Statistical Yearbook 2001 and State Statistical Bureau
[*] Both institutional and private savings