General Economy

Gross domestic product (GDP)

GDP for 2004 was 1.124 trillion yuan, up 14.3% from the previous year.

GDP ratio (primary, secondary and tertiary industries)

The first industry yielded an added value of 81.6 billion yuan, 3.7% more than that of the previous year; the second industry, 604.5 billion yuan, a growth of 16.2%; the tertiary industry, 438.2 billion yuan, a growth of 13.9%. The proportion of the three industries is 7.3: 53.7: 39.

Revenue and expenditure

Provincial revenue was 142.429 billion yuan, down 3.0% from the previous year. Provincial expenditure was 106.308 billion yuan, up 18.5%.

Consumer price index (CPI)

CPI was 3.9% up from the previous year.

Investment in fixed assets

Fixed asset investment was valued at 594.5 billion yuan, up 20.2% from the previous year.

Major Industries

Agriculture

In 2004, the province's agricultural added value was 81.6 billion yuan, an increase of 3.7% from the previous year.

Industry

The industrial added value was 538.1 billion yuan, an increase of 17.0%

High-tech

The import value of high-tech products was US$3.87 billion while the export value of high-tech products was US$4.61 billion. The two figures were 79.7% and 16.9% up respectively.

Construction

Its added value was 66.36 billion yuan, up 9.0%.

Transportation

The annual volume of goods handled through various modes of transport was 265.91 billion tons, up 30.4% from the previous year. The annual passenger flow reached 78.72 billion, an increase of 10.6%.

Postal services

The annual turnover of postal operations totaled 2.9 billion yuan, a growth of 4.8%.

Telecommunications

Its annual turnover was 63.98 billion yuan, up 37.8% from the previous year.

Retail

The annual turnover from retail sales reached 364.54 billion yuan, an increase of 12.5% from the previous year.

Tourism

Revenue from tourism totaled 101.01 billion yuan, up by 31.6%.

Continued Effects of Market Reform

Imports & exports

The annual value of imports and exports totaled US$85.23 billion, an increase of 38.8% from the previous year.

Economic and technological cooperation

Overseas project and labor contracts signed during the year were valued at US$1.68 billion, up 37.7% from the previous year. Business turnover for the year totaled US$1.53 billion, an increase of 22.0%.

Foreign investment

Foreign investment realized in monetary terms was US$6.68 billion, up 22.6% from the year before.

Urban Construction and Management

Public services

The rates of urban sewage treatment and household garbage treatment have reached 48% and 87% respectively, both 2.1 percentage points up from 2003.

Social Undertakings

Science and technology

The expenditure on various scientific and technological activities during the year totaled 22.2 billion yuan, up 19.9%. Of this figure, 9.5 billion yuan were invested in research and development activities, up 22.1%.

Education

At the end of 2004, the province had a total of 73 institutions of higher learning. The number of students enrolled in postgraduate schools and institutions of higher learning during the year stood at 8,000 and 195,600. The registered number of students in special schools for the handicapped was 14,200 at the year-end.

Culture

The province has a total of 79 arts performance organizations, 1,634 cultural and arts centers, 84 public libraries and 73 museums.

Public health

At the end of the year, there were 11,919 public health institutions staffed with a work force of 185,000 people and equipped with 125,000 beds. 34 HIV/AIDS monitoring stations were established in the province at the year-end.

Sports

The sports lottery reaped sales of 1.47 billion yuan for the year.

Welfare and aid

At the end of the year, various welfare units were equipped with 86,000 beds and put up 64,000 homeless and vagrant people. There were 26,000 community service facilities. The welfare lottery reaped sales of 820 million yuan in 2004. Direct donations received from the public were 290 million yuan.

Population, Employment, Social Security and Living Standards

Population

The year 2004 saw births of 501,200 or a birth rate of 10.71‰, and deaths of 269,500, or a mortality rate of 5.76‰. The natural growth rate of the population stood at 4.95‰. At the end of the year, the resident population was 47.196 million.

Employment

The employed population of the province was 29.4 million at the end of 2004, an increase of 214,000 from the year before. A total of 616,000 new jobs were created during the year.

Registered unemployment rate

The registered unemployment rate was 4.1%, down by 0.1 percentage points from 2003.

Social security

In 2004, insurance plans for endowments, unemployment, medical treatment and industrial injuries covered a population of 8.88 million, 4.28 million, 5.69 million and 3.60 million respectively. About 601,000 residents including 514,000 rural residents received minimum living allowances from the government which totaled 447 million yuan, up 38% from the previous year.

Residents' income

The disposable income of urban residents was 14,546 yuan per capita, up 7.4% from 2003. Rural residents' per capita net income was 6,096 yuan, up 7.4%.

Geography and Natural Conditions

Elevation extremes

Zhejiang's territory slopes down from the southwest to the northeast. Its southwest is mountainous, with the average height of 800 meters above sea level. Most of the province's mountains with a height of over 1,500 meters are found in this area. Huangmaojian in Longquan County, 1,929 meters above sea level, is the highest peak of the province. The middle part of Zhejiang is a hilly area, scattered with many large and small basins. The northeastern part is a low and flat alluvial plain covered with a thick layer of fertile soil and crisscrossed with waterways. The mountain ranges stretch towards the East China Sea, forming many peninsulas and islands.

Zhejiang covers a total land area of 101,800 sq km, of which 70.4% is mountainous region; 23.2% is plain; and rest 6.4% is covered by rivers and lakes.

Climate

Zhejiang has a sub-tropical monsoon climate, with the clear division of four seasons and abundant sunshine. The average annual temperature is 15°C - 18°C and the average annual precipitation is 1,200-1,800 mm. Its rainy season is from May to June; its coldest and hottest days are seen in January and July respectively.

Natural resources

A rich reserve of more than 100 minerals is found in Zhejiang, including 12 non-metallic ones ranking among the top three in China in terms of the amount of reserve. Five new mineral reserves were proven in 2004. Its reserves of stone coal, alunite, pyrophyllite, limestone for cement-making and limestone for construction rank the first in the country; fluorite occupies the second place in China and diatomite, the third. The reserves of silica, pearlite, granite, zeolite, silver, zinc, vanadium and cadmium all rank among the country's top tens.

Zhejiang has a total coastline (including island lines) of 6,486 km, with a total domestic sea area of 30,900 sq km. It has the China's largest in-shore fishery, with 400 sq km of shallow sea and 2,886 square meters of low beach for aquiculture. In addition, the continental shelf of the East China Sea is rich in petroleum and natural gas.

Zhejiang is famed as "a treasure house of plants in southeastern China." with a high forest-coverage rate. The province has as many as 3,800 species of plants. Among these, gingko and more than 50 others have listed in the Directory of Rare Plants under State Protection. There are more than 1,900 species of wild animals in the province, 120 of which being listed as first or second grade of wild animals under state protection, making up one third of the country's total protected rare animals.

The continental shelf rich in petroleum and natural gas resources has very good prospect for exploitation. The province's water resources total 93.7 billion cubic meters, ranking the fourth in China by per unit area.

Tourism resources

Zhejiang is one of the birthplaces of the Chinese civilization. As early as in the Old Stone Age about 50,000 years ago, the primitive Jiande Man lived in the mountainous western region of the province. During the New Stone Age of about 7,000 to 4,000 years ago, human activities extended to a wider area, leaving more than 100 cultural sites in the area, including those belonging to the Hemudu Culture (about 6,000 to 7,000 years ago), the Majiabang Culture (about 6,000 to 6,000 years ago) and the Liangzhu Culture (about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago). Among the large amount of cultural relics found in the Yuyao Hemudu Cultural Site, are all types of farming and daily life utensils made of bones, stone, pottery and wood; grains; wooden parts of house-structures; colorful lacquer bowls and bone whistles that can still produce beautiful music now.During the 12th and 13th century, Hangzhou served as the Southern Song Dynasty's capital for about 150 years. In the 14th century, along with the designation of its border, "Zhejiang" became the formal name of the province. In China's history, Zhejiang was famous for its developed farming skills and handicrafts. It led the country in industries such as silk, porcelain, papermaking, printing and shipbuilding.

Zhejiang is a favored tourist destination. It has 11 state-level scenic areas, including the West Lake, Fuchun River, Xin'an River, Thousand-islet Lake, Mount Yantang, Nanxi River, Mount Putuo, the Shengsi Islands, Mount Tiantai, Mount Mogan, Mount Xuedou, Twin-Dragon Cave and Mount Xiandu, in addition to its 35 province-level scenic spots. The Hangzhou River is a national holiday resort, and 10 other resorts, including Xianghu Lake in Xiaoshan, Oujiang River in Wenzhou and Mount Huiji in Shaoxing, are of provincial level. The Surging Qiantang Tides, a unique natural view, attracts numerous visitors from both home and abroad each year.