Business Environment
Geographical Advantages
Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, is the largest city in Central China, located at the junction of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and the Yangtze River. The city is often referred to as a thoroughfare to nine provinces. It is directly linked to Shanghai in the east, Chongqing in the west, Guangzhou in the south, and Beijing in the north. Wuhan is about 1,000 kilometers away from each of the four major cities in China making it the center of China's economic map.
Environmental Protection
Wuhan enjoys a first-class ecological environment and is particularly rich in fresh water resources, with 25% of the total city area covered by rivers and lakes. The city has an industrial wastewater treatment rate of 96.0% and urban sewage treatment rate of 71.1% and rising quickly. The city is home to the country's first national ODS (Ozone depleting substances) recycling center and has been 100% successful in eliminating CFC's and Halon. The rate of green-space coverage in urban areas is 37.8% and climbing, with green-space per capita of 9.32 square meters. There are 38 city parks, of which 34 are available to the public without admission fees.
In order to protect the ecological environment, Wuhan has carried out a "Clean Water and Blue Sky" program including protection of drinking water, upgrading the sewage treatment capacity, treatment of all industrial wastewater, protection of lakes, construction of water conservation areas, strict control of coal and oil emissions, control of automobile emissions and control of urban dust pollution. National level environmental protection bases have been established in Wuhan, including the Wuhan Qingshan National Environmental Protection Industrial Base, the Wuhan Desulphurization Environmental Protection Industrial Base, the Wuhan Elimination of White Pollution Industrial Base, the Wuhan Environmental Protection Industrial Center for Metallurgical Slag Recycling, the Wuhan Environmental Protection Industrial Center for Noise Prevention, the National Key Lab of Coal Combustion and the National Technical Center for Industrial Emissions Control.
Banking and Insurance
There are 8 foreign-invested banking institutions, which include the Societe Generale (SG), the HSBC, The Bank of East Asia, the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, the Industrial Bank of Japan, ABN AMRO, the Michinoku Bank and AXA. As one of the 9 major financial centers of China, Wuhan has over 2,250 branches of both domestic and foreign financial institutions.
By the end of 2006, combined savings deposits in RMB and foreign exchange in Wuhan totaled 468.43 billion RMB, including 193.12 billion RMB for enterprises and institutions and 188.77 billion RMB for households. Outstanding loans in RMB and foreign exchange totaled 367.37 billion RMB.
In 2005, insurance premium revenues amounted to 5.5 billion RMB, an increase of 21.4% over the previous year. Premiums for property insurance reached 1.6 billion RMB and life premiums reached 3.9 billion RMB. By the end of 2005, there were 278 insurance agencies operating in Wuhan. Major insurance companies include The People's Insurance Company of China, China Continental Property and Casualty Insurance Co. Ltd., China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co. Ltd., AnBang Insurance Co. Ltd., China Life Insurance Co. Ltd., New China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. and the Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
Healthcare Services
At the end of 2006, there were 243 hospitals, 31,767 beds for patients, 52,500 healthcare technicians, 21,200 doctors and 19,300 nurses in Wuhan. For every thousand people, there were an average of 2.61 doctors and 4.75 available beds.
Urban Improvement Projects
A series of important infrastructure projects have been recently completed in Wuhan, giving the city a modern infrastructure platform from which to build upon. These major projects included the building of the Wuhan International Airport, the Airport Super Highway, the No.2 Yangtze River Bridge, the No.3 Yangtze River Bridge, the mid-circle highway, an international container port, a backbone broadband network, a water plant, a power plant and a waste water treatment plant. Major infrastructure projects now under construction include the City Ring Highway, 7 major rapid outlet highways, the Yangluo Yangtze Bridge, the Tianxinzhou Yangtze Bridge and the 3rd phase of the Yangluo Power Plant.
Government Efficiency
In 2006, Wuhan ranked 12th in the country for governmental efficiency and 20th for management competitiveness. The official government website of Wuhan has been rated in the national top 10 among city government websites and is actively pursuing a policy of e-governance by constructing interactive websites for different government departments to enhance government efficiency. Complaints procedures and administrative services can now all be accessed and dealt with online.
Wuhan has set up an administrative complaints center where citizens or enterprises can complain in cases of malfeasance or bad practices among government officials.
Complaint Tel: 027-82601111(day); 027- 82624205(night)
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Wuhan has also set up the Foreign Investment United Service Center and established a system of regular meetings between the mayor and foreign investor representatives. After inspection of the Wuhan investment environment, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization praised Wuhan as the best place for foreign investment in central and western China. The Shanghai-Hong Kong Yangtze River Development Promotion Association also came to the conclusion that Wuhan has the best investment environment among the 15 large sized cities along the Yangtze River.
Economic Overview
Wuhan, a National Historic City, is the capital of Hubei Province, also affectionately dubbed the "city on rivers" and is the largest city in central China. The mighty Yangtze River, the third longest river in the world, intersects its largest branch, the Hanshui River at Wuhan and divides the city into three distinct areas called Hankou, Hanyang, and Wuchang.
From the late 1990's on, Wuhan has enjoyed double-digit annual economic growth; an incredible record lasting 16 consecutive years, with no sign of abatement. The city was proclaimed to be the "Chinese economic and geographical center" by a panel of national economists because it sits smack-dab in the center of and almost exactly 1000 km distant from each of the four largest cities in the country and consistently ranks among the top cities in China in terms of competitive advantages and quality of life.
In 2006, Wuhan's GDP reached 259 billion RMB, accounting for 35% of the GDP in the Province of Hubei and ranking 16th among all cities nationwide. GDP per capita sits at 29,890 RMB, roughly equal to US$3,790. In 2006, total fixed capital investment reached 132.53 billion RMB, up by 26.1% over the previous year.
Economic Contribution Ratios by Sector
In 2006, the economic contribution ratio to GDP of the primary industries including agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and the fisheries was 4.5%; the contribution ratio of the secondary industries including manufacturing and the value added sector was 46.1% and that of the tertiary and service industries was 49.4%.
Foreign Trade Overview
Wuhan's total import/export volume was US$8.01 billion in 2006, with total exports up by 48.7% to US$3.78 billion and import volume up by 16.1% to US$4.26 billion. Electromechanical and hi-tech products led the surge in exports, up by 101.9% to US$1.92 billion and 108.5% to US$0.861 billion respectively. Export volume of state-owned enterprises was US$2.03 billion and that of privately run enterprises and enterprises with foreign state-owned enterprises was US$2.03 billion and that of privately run enterprises and enterprises with foreign investment US$1.744 billion. Wuhan's 10 major export markets are the US, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, the UK, Italy and Spain.
Foreign Trade and Cultural Ties
The French Consulate General in Wuhan is the only foreign consulate in the city; however, by the end of 2006, Wuhan had built sister-city relationships with 14 cities in 14 countries around the globe. The city also regularly hosts distinguished foreign guests or delegations, foreign journalists and overseas Chinese for discussions, forums and mutual exchanges. For example, in November 2006, the city held the "2006 Wuhan-European SME Fair", which focused on economic cooperation between Wuhan and Europe.