Introduction to the Economic & Technology Development Area
General Introduction

Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China, is the center of the nation's politics, culture and international exchanges and a modern metropolis full of vitality. The beauty of the city has for hundreds of years attracted numerous people to visit this ancient capital in the East.

History and Relics

Beijing is home to the well-known "Peking Man (Sinanthropus pekinensis)" relic that dated back 200,000 to 700,000 years ago. Evidence of historical record and excavated relics has proved that the city has stood on its current site for well over 3,000 years. It was the capital city for Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties in ancient and contemporary Chinese history.

With the founding of People's Republic of China on October 1st, 1949, Beijing became the capital of the new republic and has since developed itself into a political and cultural center of China and international exchange hub. Cultural relics in Beijing like the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, Zhoukoudian Peking Man Relics, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Place and the Ming Tombs are World Cultural and Natural Heritage approved by the United Nations. There are a total of 7,309 historical and relic sites in Beijing among which 60 are classified as national cultural heritages and another 234 are Beijing cultural heritages.

Natural Geography

Beijing Municipality is located between 116¡ã 20' east longitude and 39¡ã56' north latitude, with Tianjin City on its eastern border and Hebei Province on the other three sides.

Lying in the northern part of North China Plain, Beijing is surrounded by mountains on the west, the north and the northeast. The northeastern part of the city is high while the southwestern part is low topographically, with a southeastern plain tilted gradually downward to the Bohai Sea. Major rivers flowing through Beijing include Yongding River, Chaobai River, North Canal and Juma River that mostly originated in the northeastern mountainous areas of Beijing. These rivers flow through rugged mountains towards southeastern plain of Beijing and in the end join the Bohai Sea.

Beijing has a continental monsoon climate with four distinct seasons. Spring and autumn are short while winter and summer are long. The average temperature of Beijing in year 2002 is 13.2oC. December was the coldest month with an average temperature of -2.9oC while July was the hottest month with an average temperature of 27.5oC. Average annual rainfall in 2002 equaled 370.4 millimeters, which was relatively low. The frost-free period of Beijing for year 2002 was 199 days.

Beijing occupies a total area of 16,807.8 square kilometers. Around 10,417.5 square kilometers are mountainous areas, which constitute 62 percent of the total space of Beijing. The plain area of Beijing covers 6,390.3 square kilometers, which accounts for 38 percent of the city's total area. Beijing municipality has 16 subordinate districts and 2 counties.

Population and Nationalities

By the end of 2002, Beijing has a total of 14.23 million residents among which 11.363 million people are registered permanent ones. The population density of Beijing is 847 people per square kilometer.

According to the Fifth Census conducted in year 2000, average life expectancy of Beijing residents reached 76.7 years. Beijing boasts all 56 ethnic nationalities of the country, with nationality of Hui, Manchu, Mongolia and Korea exceeding 10,000 people.

The Development Area enjoys state policies formulated specially for state-class economic and technological Development Areas and for state-class hi-tech industrial areas. It is designed to follow the new management system of the international standard. The Management Committee of the Development Area exercises unified leadership and management.

The first-phase construction project of the Development Area covers 15.8 km2 and the second-phase construction project occupies an area of 24 km2. The Development Area has completed construction of infrastructural facilities needed for enterprises and companies that enter the area, and features rational distribution.

Name Basic Situation
Power Two-way power supply, Two-way supply of power, two 110kV substations
Tap Water Two-way tap water supply pipes, daily tap water supply capacity of 120,000m3
Natural Gas Pressure of 0.8Kg/M2, calorific value of 8,500-10,000 Kcal/m3
Thermal Heat Two heat supply factories with capacity of 305 t/h

The Development Area has completed construction of factory premises, materials transport center, bonded warehouses, a Development Area for those who have returned from abroad to launch businesses, and a scientific and technological enterprise Development Area, as well as supportive service organs such as customs, post office, telecommunication bureau, financial service, hospital and fire fighting organs, plus a sound dwelling quarters composed of residential buildings, hotels and stores.

The number of enterprises and companies that have entered the Development Area has surpassed 1,000 and their investment adds up to US$4 billion. Of these, more than 75% are foreign-funded enterprises whose investments average over US$10 million. They include 36 of Top 500 in the world and over 60 multinational companies. Major investors hail from 30-odd countries and regions including the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Israel, South Africa, Spain as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Thus far, the Development Area has formed five pillar industries¡bioengineering and new medicine, information technology, optics-machinery-electronics integration, new materials and software development. In addition, the Development Area has grown to own ¡°industrial aircraft carriers¡± composed of Xinwang Industrial Development Area, Beijing Medicine Valley and others set up by Top 500 in the world, multinational companies or domestically famous enterprises.

In accordance with the state industrial policies, the Development Area encourages the development of businesses such as hi-tech enterprises, export enterprises, foreign-funded enterprises, and businesses that are good in economic benefits, added value and technological density, but low in consumption of energy and water, land occupation. All of them have to be pollution-free. Major ones follow:

+ SHD optical communication system

+ Industrial automation

+ Back-to-back connection system

+ Digital control system and equipment

+ Network management equipment manufacturing

+ Precision medical electronic instruments and clinical diagnosis equipment

+ Advanced electronic and electric technological products

+ New-type western and traditional Chinese medicine and biological medicine projects

+ High-energy efficient products

+ Life science and bioengineering

+ New materials

+ Refined chemicals

+ Automobile electronics and related industries

+ New energy

+ Digital and intelligent precision instruments and meters

+ Laser technological engineering

+ LCD technology and products

+ Ecological science and environmental protection technology and products

+ Office automation equipment

+ Space science and aviation and aeronautics technology and products

+ Precision machinery

+ High-grade and marketable light industrial products and textile fabrics

+ Hydraulic pressure and pneumatic components and parts

+ Optical electronic technology

+ Computer software development

+ Optics-machinery-electronics integration equipment

Add: 4 Wanyuan Street, Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area, Beijing 100076, China

Tel:: +86 10 67881107 67881240

Fax: +86 10 67881118 67881210

Website: www.bda.gov.cn