General Economy

Gross domestic product (GDP)

GDP for 2004 was 428.33 billion yuan, up 13.2% from the previous year.

Revenue and expenditure

Municipal revenue was 74.45 billion yuan, an increase of 29.7% over the previous year. Municipal expenditure was 89.89 billion yuan, an increase of 22.3%

Consumer price index (CPI)

CPI was 101, up 0.8 percentage points from the previous year.

Investment in fixed assets

Fixed asset investment was valued at 252.83 billion yuan, up by 17.2% from the previous year.

Major Industries

Agriculture

In 2004, the city's total agricultural output value was 25.4 billion yuan, an increase of 6.8% from the previous year.

Heavy industry

The industrial added value was 129.02 billion yuan, an increase of 19.3%

High-tech

The total added value from high-tech industries was 37.77 billion yuan, up by 17.7%.

Construction

Its added value was 32.02 billion yuan, up by 6.2%. Total output value was 150.58 billion yuan, up by 15.2%.

Transportation

The annual added value from transportation and warehousing reached 11.38 billion yuan.

Postal services

The annual turnover of postal operations totaled 3.11 billion yuan, similar to the previous year's.

Telecommunications

The annual added value of information transmission, computer technological support service and software totaled 31.78 billion yuan, up by 10.8% from the previous year.

Retail

The annual turnover from retail sales reached 219.18 billion yuan, an increase of 14.4% from the previous year.

Tourism

Foreign exchange earnings from tourism totaled US$3.17 billion, up by 66.8%. Revenue from domestic tourism totaled 114.5 billion yuan, up by 62.2%.

Continued Effects of Market Reform

Imports & exports

The annual value of imports and exports totaled US$94.66 billion, an increase of 38.2% from the previous year.

Economic and technological cooperation

Overseas project and labor contracts signed during the year were valued at US$810 million, up 68.8% from the previous year. Business turnover for the year totaled US$600 million, an increase of 70.8% from the previous year.

By the end of 2004, a total of 2,552 people were working outstation.

Foreign investment

In 2004, the city approved a total of 1,806 foreign investment projects valued at US$6.26 billion. Foreign investment realized in monetary terms was US$3.08 billion, up by 43.0% from the year before.

Urban Construction and Management

Road transport

A total of 14.88 billion yuan was invested in road transport infrastructure, up by 15.2% from the previous year.

Public services

Annual sales volume of tap water was 630 million cubic meters, up by 5.7%; electricity, 45.17 billion kilowatt-hours, up by 8.9%; coal-fired gas, 180 million cubic meters, down by 23.1%; natural gas, 2.33 billion cubic meters, up by 22.3%; liquefied petroleum gas, 126,000 tons, down by 13.7%.

Social Undertakings

Science and technology

By the end of the year, a total of 4,000 units with a total staff of 290,000 people were engaged in various scientific and technological activities. The expenditure on such activities totaled 51 billion yuan, up by 10.6%.

Education

By the end of 2004, the city had a total of 77 institutes of higher learning, four more than the previous year. The number of students enrolled during the year stood at 147,000, up by 2.7%. A total of 99,600 students graduated during the year, an increase of 18.9%.

Culture

The city has a total of 172 cinemas catering to different needs and tastes, and 127 museums. About 99.5% of local residents have access to radio and terrestrial television broadcasts. As at end-2004, 62.1% of the local population subscribed to cable TV services.

Public health

The municipal medical first-aid center established branches in 10 counties and districts in the suburbs. Emergency services are also available in 32 townships in the outskirts. A total of 2.3 million peasants, or 64% of the city's rural population, are covered by the new rural cooperative medical system.

Sports

A total of 1,229 outdoor exercise stations were constructed for local residents in 2004, covering a total area of 826,000 square meters, at a total investment of 117 million yuan.

Welfare and aid

There are 323 welfare units equipped with 29,000 beds to put up 17,000 of the city's homeless and vagrant people. About 2,000 community centers were established. The welfare lottery reaped sales of 1.55 billion yuan. Direct donations received from the public were 26 million yuan.

Population, Employment, Social Security and Living Standards

Population

At the end of 2004, the resident population (the population living in the city for at least half a year) was 14.927 million, an increase of 2.5% from the previous year. The birth rate was 6.1‰, the mortality rate 5.4‰. The natural growth rate of the population stood at 0.7‰. Statistics from the public security bureau show that the population with registered permanent residences was 11.629 million, up by 1.2%.

Employment

A total of 174,300 people, or 68.64% of the unemployed population found jobs during the year. The figure is 0.56 percentage points higher than the previous year. There are now 197 community non-profit employment support organizations that have so far helped some 13,000 people find jobs.

Registered unemployment rate

The registered unemployed population at the end of 2004 was 64,600, 5,000 less than the previous year. The registered unemployment rate was 1.3%, down by 0.13 percentage points.

Social security

In 2004, insurance plans for endowments, medical treatment, unemployment and industrial accidents covered a population of 4.60 million, 4.84 million, 3.08 million and 2.59 million respectively. These figures are up by 115,000, 479,000, 14,000 and 161,000 respectively from the previous year.

Residents' income

The disposable income of urban residents was 15,638 yuan per capita, up by 11.5% from 2003. Per capita expenditure was 12,200 yuan, up by 8.6 percent. Rural residents' per capita net income was 7,172 yuan; per capita expenditure was 4,886 yuan, up 9.2% and 3.9% respectively.

Geography and Natural Conditions

Elevation extremes

Mountains stand in the west, north and northeast of Beijing; the 10,417.5 sq km of mountainous areas, with an average elevation of 1,000-1,500 meters, account for 62% of its total territory. In its southeast lies the vast North China Plain of 6,390.3 km, with an average altitude of 20-60 meters above sea level. The 2,303-meter-high Mount Lingshan on the border between Beijing and Hebei is the highest peak of the city.

Climate

Beijing has a semi-humid climate with clearly cut four seasons: short spring and autumn and long winter and summer. The average annual temperature is 13°C (averaging 25.2°C in July, the hottest month, and 3.7°C in January, the coldest month). The average annual rainfall is 507.7 mm and the frost-free period is 180-200 days. The average annual sun radiance is 135 Cal/square centimeter.

Natural resources

Five rivers flow across the city, including Chaobai and Beiyun rivers in its east and the Yongding and Juma rivers in its west. Most of the rivers originate from the city's northwestern mountainous areas and, after winding southeastwards across the plain areas, flow into the Bohai Sea. The 174 km Yongding River running through southwest Beijing is the city's biggest river. Beijing has 30 big and small lakes, including such major ones as Kunming, Yuyuantan, Beihai, Zhonghai, Nanhai, Qianhai, Houhai, Xihai, Longtan, Taoranting and Zizhuyuan. Beijing's surface water totals 2.53 billion cubic meters and its ground water reserve is 2.63 billion cubic meters.

Beijing's mountainous areas produce various minerals such as coal and iron ores as well as building materials such as granite and marble.

Tourism resources

Human activities began in the Beijing area some half a million years ago. The recorded history of Beijing as a city can date back to more than 3,000 years ago. In 1271 Kublai Khan renamed the city and decided to build it as the capital of his empire, and since then, Beijing served as a national capital for more than 700 years, being one of China's seven great ancient capitals. In this famed historical and cultural city, cultural heritage sites and scenic spots are found everywhere. Ancient palace groups, temples, parks, ancient pagodas with rock carvings, imperial gardens and tombs, former residences of historic personages throng the city side by side with modern buildings of museums and memorial halls.

Beijing has a total of 7,309 cultural heritage sites, including 42 under state protection and 222 under municipal protection. The Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian, the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan Park), the Summer Palace and the Ming Tombs (Shisanling) are on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Beijing has over 200 scenic spots open to visitors, such as the Forbidden City, the Beihai Park, the Ming Tombs, the Great Wall, Yonghegong Lamasery, Tanzhe Temple, Fragrant Hills, the Ruins of the Yuanmingyuan, the Eight Great Sites, Longqing Gorge, Shihua Cave and etc.

There are 456 tourist hotels, including 407 star-rated hotels offering a total of 84,000 guest rooms. Serving travelers to Beijing are 456 travel agencies with 5,000 tour guides speaking 21 languages. Beijing is one of the "Excellent Chinese Tourist Cities" awarded by the China National Tourism Administration.