General Economy

Gross domestic product (GDP)

GDP for 2005 was 412.12 billion yuan, up 12.5% from the previous year. The per capita GDP stood at 12,320 yuan.

GDP ratio (primary, secondary and tertiary industries)

The primary industry yielded a value added of 25.79 billion yuan, down 5.4% from the previous year; the secondary industry, 230.79 billion yuan, a growth of 15.9%; the tertiary industry, 155.54 billion yuan, a growth of 11.6%. The GDP ratio of the three sectors was: 6.3 : 56 : 37.7

Revenue and expenditure

Provincial revenue was 75.79 billion yuan, an increase of 40% over the previous year. Provincial expenditure was 66.87 billion yuan, a growth of 28.8%.

Consumer price index (CPI)

CPI was up 2.3% from the previous year.

Investment in fixed assets

Fixed asset investment was valued at 185.93 billion yuan, up 25.8% from the previous year.

Major Industries

Agriculture

The total grain output was 9.78 billion kg, down 7.9% from the previous year.

Industry

The industrial added value totaled 207.3 billion yuan, an increase of 16.9%.

Construction

Its added value was 23.49 billion yuan.

Transportation

Freight carried by various means of transport for the year was 7.3% up from the previous year to reach 148.03 billion ton-kilometers, which included 106.56 billion ton-kilometers by railway, up 7.3%; 41.09 billion ton-kilometers by highway, up 6.7%; and 60 million ton-kilometers by air, up 200%.

The number of passengers carried by various means of transport was 2.1% up to reach 400 million, which included 4.33 million person-kilometers by railway, up 0.7%; 370 million by highway, up 2.2%; 1.08 million person-kilometers by waterway; and 2.123 million by air, up 24.6%.

Postal services

The annual turnover of postal operations totaled 1.77 billion yuan, 24.6% up from the previous year.

Telecommunications

The annual turnover of telecom services was 26.3 billion yuan, up 29.3%. At the end of 2005, the number of fixed line subscribers reached 8.046 million, up by 11.6% from 2004; and the number of mobile phone subscribers reached 9.062 million, up by 20.2%.

Retail

The annual turnover from retail sales reached 140.12 billion yuan, an increase of 14.9% from the previous year.

Tourism

Foreign exchange earnings from tourism reached US$116 million, up 43.1% from the 2004 figure. Revenue from domestic tourists stood at 28.19 billion yuan, up 41.1%.

Continued Effects of Market Reform

Imports & exports

The annual value of imports and exports totaled US$5.55 billion, an increase of 3.0% from the previous year. Of this figure, US$3.53 million were from exports, down by 12.5%; and US$2.02 million were from imports, up 49.6%.

Economic and technological cooperation

Overseas project and labor contracts signed during the year were valued at US$220 million, up 46.7% from the 2004 figure. Business turnover for the year totaled US$200 million, down 33.3%.

Foreign investment

The foreign direct investment realized in monetary terms was US$280 million, up 205%.

Social Undertakings

Science and technology

In 2005, the patent offices across the province accepted 1,985 applications and granted 1,220 patents, up 1.9% and 2.6% respectively from the previous year. A total of 556 technological contracts were signed, they were valued at 480 million yuan.

Education

There were 75 institutions of higher learning at the end of 2005. The number of students enrolled in postgraduate schools and institutions of higher learning during the year stood at 4,929 and 128,000 respectively.

Culture

Shanxi had a total of 156 professional performing organizations, 119 cultural centers, 122 public libraries, 88 museums, 131 archives, 10 radio stations and 12 TV stations. About 91.8% and 95.8% of the provincial population respectively had access to various radio and TV programs. The cable TV subscribers numbered 3.489 million at the year-end.

Public health

There were a total of 9,430 medical and healthcare institutions equipped with 108,000 beds and staffed with some 146,700 medical professionals and technicians at the year-end.

Sports

In 2005, athletes from the province won 10 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze medals at the 10th National Games.

Welfare and aid

Various welfare units across the province were equipped with 18,157 beds and put up 11,555 vagrant and homeless people during the year. The public welfare funds raised during the year totaled 293.79 million yuan and public donations totaled 28.67 million yuan. About 849,000 urban residents received minimum living allowances which totaled 690.69 million yuan from the government.

Population, Employment, Social Security and Living Standards

Population

The year 2005 saw births of 402,100, or a birth rate of 12.02‰, and deaths of 200,700 or a mortality rate of 6.00‰. The natural growth rate of the population stood at 6.02‰. The total population stood at 33.551 million at the year-end.

Employment

The employed population stood at 14.751 million at the end of 2005. About 407,000 new jobs were created, and 161,000 laid-off workers got re-employed during the year.

Registered unemployment rate

The registered urban unemployment rate was 3.1%.

Residents' income

The disposable income of urban residents was 8,914 yuan per capita, up 12.8% from 2004, while rural residents' per capita net income was 2,891 yuan, a growth of 11.6% from the previous year.

Residents' consumption

Urban residents' per capita expenditure was 6,343 yuan, up 12.2% from the previous year, while rural residents' per capita expenditure was 1,878 yuan, up 14.7%.

Geography and Natural Conditions

Topography

Shanxi covers an area of 156,000 sq km, with forests constituting 20%, or about 3.44 million ha.

Natural resources

Mineral resources:
Shanxi abounds in mineral resources. Of more than 120 kinds of underground minerals so far discovered in the province, 53 have verified reserves. Of them, reserves of coal, bauxite, pearlite, gallium and zeolite rank first in the nation. The province is especially noted as the “kingdom of coal,” with verified reserves amounting to 261.2 billion tons, accounting for one-third of the nation's total.

Flora resources:
Shanxi has about 1,700 species of known seed plants in 134 families, including more than 480 kinds of woody plants. In terms of flora resource distribution, the southern and southeastern parts of the province are richest in diversity of vegetation types and plant species. They include broadleaved deciduous forests, estival (summer) broadleaved forests composed chiefly of secondary deciduous shrubs, and mixed coniferous and broadleaved forests. The central part has vast expanses of forests, mainly composed of coniferous forests, mesophytic deciduous scrub forests and estival broadleaved forests. The northern and northwestern parts are rich in temperate bushes and semiarid grassland, but have fewer forests. Dominant plants there include Chinese silver grass, xeric wormwood, caragana microphylla and sea-buckthorn. Relatively speaking, Shanxi lacks forest resources, being .one of China's most deficient provinces.

However, it abounds in wild plants. Of the more than 1,000 species so far discovered, there are over 90 species of wild medicinal plants widely distributed in hilly areas. Famous ones include Codonopsis pilosola, Astragalus membranaceus, liquorice and weeping golden bell. Major wild fiber plants include nilghiri nettle, splendid achnatherum, Chinese small iris, kudzu vines, chaste trees and Chinese alpine rush.

Fauna resources:
There are more than 400 species of terrestrial wild animals in Shanxi, including some 70 species of rare animals under state protection. The 14 species under first-class protection include white stork, black stork, golden eagle, sea eagle, vulture, brown pheasant, red-crowned crane, great bustard, leopard, tiger and sika deer. The 56 species under second-class protection comprise 40 kinds of birds, two kinds amphibians and 14 kinds of beasts. In addition, there are more than 20 species of fur-bearing animals, including otter, Marten foina, raccoon-dog, leopard cat, yellow weasel, badger and fox. Table animals include hare, wild boar, ring-necked pheasant, rock partridge and partridge. There are also more than 70 species of medicinal-supplying animals.

Water resources:
Water resources total 15.24 billion cubic meters.

The province is deficient in surface water, but the available resources are evenly distributed. There are eight rivers, each with a length of over 150 km. The total volume of river water runoff stands at 11.4 billion cubic meters, a figure, slightly more than that in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, ranking last but one nationally.

Generally originating from eastern and western mountainous areas, all rivers in Shanxi are outflow ones, belonging to either the Yellow or Haihe river systems. Generally speaking, rivers running west and south belong to the Yellow River system, while those flowing east belong to the Haihe River system. The Yellow River drainage area totals 97,503 sq km, accounting for 62.2% of Shanxi's total land area. The Haihe River drainage area covers 59,320 sq km, constituting 37.8% of the total land area. Shanxi has 1,214.6 billion cubic meters of underground water resources, but only 45% of them are recoverable. They are mainly distributed on the fringe of basins and in provincial border areas.

Tourism resources

Shanxi abounds in tourism resources. Famous spots include the Yungang Caves at Datong City in the north, Wutai Mountain, a sacred place of Buddhism in the central part, and the falls at Hukou in the south, the only waterfall on the Yellow River.

The province also encompasses the country's largest temple of martial valor – the Guan Yu Shrine at Xiezhou – and one of the four large whispering buildings in China, the Yingying Pagoda of Pujiu Temple in Yongji County.

Statistics show that Shanxi now preserves a total of 31,401 unmovable cultural relics of different kinds. They comprise 2,639 ruins of ancient monuments, 1,666 ancient graves, 18,118 old buildings and memorial structures of historic interest, 300 grottoes and temples, 360 sites bearing ancient vertebrate fossils, 6,852 sites with stone inscriptions and 1,466 old revolutionary sites and memorial buildings.

There are 12,345 painted sculptures in these old buildings and memorial structures of historic interest and 26,751 square meters of murals in old temples. Therefore, the province has broad prospects for developing tourism based on its rich cultural relics to make it a pillar sector of the economy.