Ever had a craving for Fotiaoqiang (Buddha jumps over a wall), oolong tea from WuYi Mountain, lychees, or Longans? If so, Fujian province should come to mind.
Nestled between China’s most economically developed areas with the Yangtze River Delta to the north and the Pearl River Delta to the south, is Fujian province. Fujian has an area of 121,400 square kilometers (46,355 square miles) and a population of more than 35 million people. It is situated in southeast China, opposite Taiwan across the 180 kilomete-wide Taiwan Strait. Zhejiang province lies to the North, Jiangxi to the west and Guangdong lies to the south (see map). The capital city is Fuzhou, as well as its largest city.
Fujian is governed by both China (People’s Republic of China) and Taiwan (Republic of China). China administers all but the archipelagos of Kinmen and Matsu, which are under Taiwan’s domain.
Most of the province is mountainous with the Wuyi Mountains creating the border with Jiangxi province. Huanggang Peak is the highest point in this mountain range with an altitude of 2157 meters (7077 feet). It has a subtropical climate, with January averaging seven to 10 degrees Celsius. Summers have high temperatures and typhoons are common, usually occurring from July to September. Sitting on several small fault lines, Fujian is also prone to minor earthquakes. Annual precipitation ranges from 1.4 to 1.2 meters (3.94 to 4.59 feet), on average.
The province’s major cities include:
Fuzhou (Foochow)
- The capital city with 1.2 million people
- Main industries include machine, electrical, food, chemical, leather goods, electrical and industrial art, plastic machinery, tea
- Agricultural/farm production includes rice, rope, peanut, sugarcane, straw and fruit
Xiamen (Amoy)
- Population of 1.3 million
- A major port city
- Special economic Zone
- Also known as the “Garden of the Sea”
- Main industries include machinery, electronics/appliances, textiles, clothes, food, chemicals
Quanzhou
- Population of 6.5 million
- A historic port city with many scenic areas
- Mineral deposits of granite, coal and kaolin
- Main industries include machinery, chemical, textile, food processing, ceramic production
- Agricultural/farm production includes rice, soybeans, fruit, tea, jute, timber, bamboo, and aquatic products
- Road the primary mode of transportation, however shipping routes link the city with Hong Kong and other parts of the country
Nanping
- Population of 3 million
- Shipping center along the Min River
- Main industries include wood processing, papermaking, machinery, textiles, and electronics
- Agricultural/farm production include fir and paper (among the highest for China), timber, bamboo, grain, and tea.
Zhangzhou
- Population of 4.5 million
- Southwest of Xiamen
Putian
- Population of 3.2 million
- Between Fuzhou and Quanzhou
Fujian is divided into nine prefecture-level cities (level of division between the province and county level; second level of administrative hierarchy):
- Fuzhou (Simplified Chinese: 福州市; Hanyu Pinyin: Fúzhōu Shì)
- Zhangzhou (漳州市 Zhāngzhōu Shì)
- Quanzhou (泉州市 Quánzhōu Shì)
- Sanming (三明市 Sānmíng Shì)
- Putian (莆田市 Pútián Shì)
- Nanping (南平市 Nánpíng Shì)
- Longyan (龙岩市 Lóngyán Shì)
- Ningde (宁德市 Níngdé Shì)
The sub-province-level city:
- Xiamen (厦门市 Xiàmén Shì)
It also has 85 county levels cities (third level of the administrative hierarchy) and 1107 township division (forth level of administrative hierarchy).
Travel To and Fro
Fujian’s main airports are in Xiamen and Fuzhou, with flights to Hong Kong and many mainland cities. Xiamen boasts discount international flights to Manila, Philippines; Singapore; and Bangkok, Thailand.
Bus is the main mode of travel in the province, the rail network is picking up, but the mountainous terrain is a challenge. However rail and road are the most used ways to travel to other provinces.
Culture and Tourism
Although Fujian has many historical areas and natural beauty, it is not yet a tourist hot spot. In 2006, the province hosted 67.8 million domestic tourists spending RMB 69.4 billion ($9.8 billion CAD), a 20 per cent increase from 2005. International tourists numbers 2.3 million, a growth of 16.5 per cent (Hong Kong tourists accounted for 680,000 thousand in 2006).
When coming to Fujian, many seek out a bowl of Fotiaoqiang. Derived from the native cooking style of theprovince, it is a famous dish not only in China, but throughout the world for having a unique taste and also a unique story behind the dish. According to one version, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), a monk came to Fujian to spread Buddhism. At a restaurant near the temple, he could smell the this dish cooking. After a while, his craving became too much to control and he jumped over the wall the separated the restaurant from the table.
Demographics
Fujian’s official language is Standard Mandarin. The vast majority of the population is Han Chinese (98 per cent). The She, mostly found in the north represents one percent of the people and the Hui Chinese are 0.3 per cent.
Many ethnic Chinese around the world, especially Southeast Asia, can trace their ancestry to Fujian. Descendants of Fujian emigrants make up the majority of the majority ethnic Chinese population of Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia. Fujian, especially Fuzhou, is also the major source of undocumented Chinese immigrants in the United States.
Professional sports teams in Fujian include:
Colleges and universities
National
- Huaqiao University (华侨大学) (Quanzhou)
- Xiamen University (厦门大学) (founded 1921) (Xiamen)
Public
- Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (Fuzhou)
- Fujian College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Fuzhou)
- Fujian Medical University (Fuzhou)
- Fujian Normal University, founded 1907 (Fuzhou)
- Fujian University of Technology (Fuzhou)
- Fuzhou University (Fuzhou)
- Jimei University (Xiamen)
- Minjiang University (Fuzhou)
- Putian University (Putian)
- Quanzhou Normal College (Quanzhou)
- Zhangzhou Normal College (Zhangzhou)
Private
- Yang-en University (Quanzhou)
Economy
Fujian is considered one of China’s wealthier provinces. Its southeastern region of Fuzhou, Xiamen (one of China’s first cities to be classified as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ)), Putian, Quanzhou and Zhangzou comprises the economic center of the province. Together this area accounts for 77 per cent of the province’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2004, Fujian embarked on the Westbank Economic Zone for socio-economic development. This is a zone along the east coast of the includes sections of Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces. It effectively links those provinces along with Jiangxi, Anhui and Hunan in regional economic cooperation. By strengthening the three direct links between mainland China and Taiwan, mail, transport and trade, Fujian is also positioning itself as the distribution and transfer hub for Taiwan commodities.
Overall trade has increased in recent years, with foreign trade increasing from 43.6 per cent in 2004 to 52 per cent in 2006.
GDP was 750.2 billion Renminbi (RMB) ($107 billion USD/$94 billion USD) in 2006, this represents a 13 per cent increase from 2005 and 2.7 per cent higher than the national average. Per Capita GDP was 21,471 RMB ($3053) CAD in 2006.
Special Economic Zones
A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) allows a region to have economic laws and management systems that are more liberal than the typical economic laws of China. Xiamen in Fujian received SEZ status in 1980. Shenzhen in Guangdong province is considered the most successful SEZ. It received its status in 1980 and has since developed into a city with over 10 million people, this from starting out as a small village. Along with 14 other coastal cities, China opened Fuzhou for greater foreign investment in 1984.
Since the 1980s, China has expanded its SEZ by adding the coastal areas of the Liaodong Peninsula, Hebei Province (which surrounds Beijing and Tianjin), Shandong Peninsula, Yangtze River Delta, Xiamen-Zhangzhou-Quanzhou Triangle in southern Fujian Province, Pearl River Delta, and Guangxi.
In addition, 15 free-trade zones, 32 state-level economic and technological development zones, and 53 new and high-tech industrial development zones have been established in large and medium-sized cities. As a result, a multilevel diversified pattern of opening and integrating coastal areas with river, border, and inland areas was been formed.
Economic policies of SEZs include:
1. Special tax incentives for foreign investments in the SEZs.
2. Greater independence on international trade activities.
3. Economic characteristics are represented as “4 principles”:
Construction primarily relies on attracting and utilizing foreign capital
Primary economic forms are sino-foreign joint ventures and partnerships as well as wholly foreign-owned enterprises
Products are primarily export-oriented
Economic activities are primarily driven by market forces
SEZs are listed separately in the national planning (including financial planning) and have province-level authority on economic administration. SEZs local congress and government have legislation authority.
The Xiamen Export Processing Zone (announced in 2000, but officially came into play in September 2002) is a special area under supervision of the Customs. This allows 24 hour service with single declaration, single examination of documents and single inspection of cargoes. The Export Processing Zone also allows for special preferential policies for export processing zones and special economic zones. The Zone encourages export-oriented growth in high tech industries such as electronic information, biomedicine, chemicals and precision machinery. It also has access by road, port and air facilities.
Special/preferential policies include:
- Exemption of Import Duties on certain products
- Duty-Bonded for certain Import Materials
- Exemption of Export Duties
- Drawback of Export Duties for specific cargo movements
- Water, electricity and gas used for export goods can be have their value-added tax refunded
- Foreign Exchange Management
- Management of Quota and License
- Transference of products for downstream processing
- Processing Entrustment outside the Export Processing Zone
- Plus additions policies included under the state Haicang Investment Zone.
Source: http://knows.jongo.com/res/article/6697
For further information please visit http://www.amoyepz.com.
Industries
Agriculture is a dominant industry in Fujian, rice is the main crop, but sweet potatoes and wheat are also mainstays. Sugarcane, peanuts, tea, tobacco, rubber and rapeseed are among the main cash crops. Fujian is known for its production of fruit, oranges, longan (the most in China), lychee, pineapples, and bananas are major items.
Heavy industry (generally defined as ‘construction’ for big projects) is also a major component. Heavy industry tallied 49 percent of the total industrial value-added in 2006. Light industry (generally defined as manufacturing activity that uses moderate amounts of partially processed materials to produce items of relatively high value per unit weight) accounted for the remainder. Natural resources, coal, iron, limestone, hydroelectricity, forestry and fishing and the more common rice, sugar, tea and fruit round out this category. Only Guangdong province has a more developed light industry.
Imports and Exports
In total, imports and exports were $63 billion USD ($ 71 billion CAD) in 2006, increasing 15.1 percent from 2005 ranking it number eight ranked in China. Total imports tallied $21 billion USD ($23 billion CAD) in 2006, up 9.3 per cent. Hong Kong, Japan, the US and Germany are Fujian’s principle import markets. Imports from Hong Kong were $149 million USD ($168 million CAD) in 2006. Major import products included automatic data processing equipment and its auxiliary parts and components, mechanical equipment and devises, mechanical and electrical products, plane and helicopter parts and components, and electrical appliances.
Total exports for 2006 accounted for $41 billion USD ($46.3 billion CAD), up 18.4 per cent (sixth in the country). Hong Kong, Japan, and the U.S. are Fujian’s major export markets. Exports to Hong Kong were up 6.4 per cent in 2006 to $3.1 billion USD ($3.5 billion CAD). Major exports included mechanical and electrical products, automatic data processing equipment, garments and related parts and footwear.
Foreign Direct Investment
In 2006, 39,940 foreign companies were in Fujian. The province has representation from Fortune 500 companies such as:
- ABB
- Alcatel
- Boeing
- BP
- Cendant.
- Cisco
- Daimler-Chrysler
- Danone
- Dell
- Deutsche Post
- Emerson
- Exxon Mobil
- Fedex
- Fuji Xerox
- Fujitsu
- GE
- HP Metro
- HSBC
- Itochu
- Kodak
- MacDonald’s
- Maersk
- Marubeni
- Mitsubishi
- Morgan Stanley
- NEC
- Nokia
- Panasonic
- Pepsi
- Philips
- Siemens
- Sumitomo Corporation
- TDK
- Toshiba
- Toyota
- Wal-mart
In 2006, 54 per cent of FDI was in the manufacturing industries, 37.5 per cent are in real estate. Hong Kong is the largest source of FDI for the province, with 41 per cent of the total foreign investment in 2006. Infrastructure, agriculture, capital and technology-intensive projects have been attracting more FDI in recent years. Due to China’s WTO commitments, it is expected FDI in services will gain in predominance as well.
The main industries for attracting investments from abroad are: plantation and cultivation of the primary industry; petrochemical, electronics, machinery, textile and light industry, energy, and medicine of the secondary industry; urban public facilities, transit and transportation, tourism, logistics, education, health care, and intermediary service of the tertiary industry.
http://www.fjfdi.com/cn/newmain.asp?yuyan=en&menuid=27&txtid=68
Retail/Consumers
As household disposable incomes have increased, so have retail sales. What’s more, consumers spending habits are changing as well. Services such as transportation, communications, recreation culture and education have all increased. The growth of chain stores, supermarkets, warehouse type hypermarkets and convenience stores are also signs of the changing retail landscape.
For more information about Fujian investment, its economy and culture please visit the following websites:
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