Introduction
Guizhou (often abbreviated to “Gui” or “Qian”) is located on the eastern slope of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in the southeastern part of China. It borders Hunan to the east, Guangxi to the south, Yunnan to the west, and Sichuan and Chongqing to the north. Guiyang is the capital city of this province. About 92.5% of the province’s total area is blanketed by mountains and hills and 61.9% of this land is dominated by karst landforms. Its average altitude is 1,100 meters. Unique natural landscapes, such as the Yellow Fruit Tree (Huangguoshu) Waterfall, Limestone Cave and the Stone Woods are major tourist attractions.

With a subtropical humid climate and abundant rainfalls, the province is home to over 3,800 species of wild animals and more than 3,700 kinds of medicinal herbs, accounting for 80% of the total number of medicinal herbs found in China. The province has a vast amount of mineral reserves, including reserves of coal, phosphorus, mercury, aluminum, manganese, antimony, gold, barite, raw materials for cement and bricks, dolomite, sandstone and limestone. It also has the largest bauxite reserves in China, accounting for 28.1% of the country’s total. In addition, the province has the highest amount of coal reserves in south China.

Minority groups comprise 37.8% of Guizhou’s total population. These minority groups, such as the Miao, Bouyei, Dong, Yi, Shui, Hui, Gelao, Zhuang, Yao, Bai, and Tujia, have brought rich and varied folk customs, culture, architecture and festivals to the province, lending it yet another important tourism resource.


Economic Overview
Guizhou’s economy has been developing at a two-digit growth rate since 2003. In 2006, the GDP of this province reached RMB 226.7 billion, with an increase of 11.6% year-on-year. Figure 12.4.1 shows the GDP breakdown by sector. The industrial and service sectors lead the economy, contributing 43.3% and 39.4% respectively to the GDP. Agriculture also contributes a substantial 17.3%.
Fixed asset investment has also expanded steadily. In 2006, the total fixed asset investment increased by 17.2% year-on-year to RMB 119.3 billion. The same year also saw the service sector attracting the largest portion of fixed asset investment, amounting to RMB 57.5 billion - 18.2% higher than 2005 and accounting for 48.2 % of the total. The industrial sector received RMB 46.8 billion, increasing by 14.6% and making up 39.2% of the total. Figure 12.4.2 shows the breakdown of fixed asset investment by industry.

In 2006, retail sales of consumer goods in Guizhou hit RMB 69 billion, an increase of 13.7% over the previous year. The per capita disposal income of urban households grew by 11.9% year-on-year to RMB 9,117. Guiyang and Zunyi are the two largest consumer centers in the province. Together, they account for 53% of the total sales.

Figure 12.4.3 shows the composition of per capita expenditure of urban households in 2006. Food is responsible for the greatest portion of household expenditure (38.7%), followed by recreation, education and cultural services (13.7%), clothing (12.2%), traffic and communications (11.3%), residence (9.2%) and medicine and medical services (4.8%).


Industry
The structure of Guizhou’s industrial output reflects the province’s natural resources. The production and distribution of electric power, gas&water, metallurgy, tobacco manufacturing, coal, raw chemical materials&chemical products, beverage manufacturing, coal, as well medical&pharmaceutical products form the pillar industries of the province. It achieved industrial value-added outputs of RMB 55.5 billion, and accounted for over 80% of the total from enterprises with designated size and above. Guizhou is known as “coal home of South China”. In 2006, it has yielded 118.2 million tons of coal, up 9.2% year-on-year, making up nearly 5% of China’s total. The industrial value-added output from coal mining and washing sector reached RMB 4.8 billion, 1.6% less than 2005, due to the government’s effort to curb pollution and energy consumption.

Guizhou has high altitudes in the east and low altitudes in the west. The dramatic downward flow of water brings rise to vast hydropower generating resources, making it a major base for supplying electricity from the western part of China to the eastern regions. In 2006, it generated 98.6 billion kwh of electricity and hydropower accounted for 22.9% of the total. The output of gas also increased by 33.7% to 5.5 billion metric meters. RMB 16.8 billion industrial value-added output was gained from the production and distribution of electricity, gas, and water, accounting for 24.1% of the province’s total. Guizhou Power Grid is the largest state-owned electricity power operator in the province. The industrial value-added output from metallurgy amounted to RMB 11.4 billion at the end of 2006, up 28% year-on-year. Smelting and pressing of non-ferrous metal generated an industrial value-added output of RMB 6.8 billion, 29.5% higher than 2005, while figures for the smelting and pressing of ferrous metal stood at RMB 4.6 billion - an increase of 26.3% year-on-year.

In 2006, Guizhou produced 297,300 tons of tobacco, 13.7% lower than 2005, due to the government’s control over land usage for the tobacco industry. It produced 10.6 billion cigarettes, accounting for over 5.2% of the country’s total. The industrial value-added output from tobacco manufacturing amounted to RMB 7.9 billion by the end of 2006, up 5.8% year-on-year. Guizhou Huangguoshu Tobacco Group, with assets totaling RMB 8 billion, is the largest tobacco maker in Guizhou province. The industrial value-added output from the beverage manufacturing industry surpassed RMB 5 billion, representing an increase of 23.5% year-on-year, while the industrial value-added output from alcohol production jumped 23.1% year-on-year to RMB 4.9 billion, making up 98% of the total generated by the whole beverage manufacturing sector. In 2006, Guizhou produced 147.1 million liters of alcohol, 20.4% more than 2005.

The ample medicinal herbs have favored the development of the medical and pharmaceutical industry in Guizhou. In 2006, this sector generated RMB 3.7 billion industrial value-added output, up 9.9% year-on-year over the previous year.


Services
Wholesale and retail trade, and tourism are the two most important industries in Guizhou’s service sector. By the end of 2006, there were 1,801 wholesale marts, 23 of which had annual transaction volumes over RMB 100 million. Hualian from Beijing and Wal-Mart from the U.S. have made their presence felt here. As a popular tourist destination in China, Guizhou attracted 321,400 foreign tourists and 47 million domestic tourists in 2006, which brought US$ 115 million and RMB 38 billion revenue to the province’s tourism sector. This represented an increase of 13.6% year-on-year and 55.6% year-on-year separately.

Foreign Trade&Foreign Investment
The province’s foreign trade volume rose 15.2% to US$1.6 billion in 2007, with imports amounting to US$579 million, up 6.2% year-on-year, and exports totaling US$1.04 billion, up 20.9% year-on-year.

Top export products include chemicals and related products (US$388 million), base metal and related products (US$236 million), mechanical and electrical products (US$171 million), rubber and related products (US$ 86 million), and metal and related products (US$83 million). Major import products are iron ore (US$217 million), sulfur (US$82 million), rubber (US$49 million), ribbed smoke sheets (US$27 million) and manganese (US$9 million). Table 12.4.1 shows the major trading partners of the province. Major export destinations are the U.S., Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea, while key import sources are India, Australia, Canada, Thailand and Brazil.

In 2006, Guizhou approved 56 foreign-funded projects and the actualized FDI stood at US$93.8 million, down 12.9% year-on-year. Figure 12.4.4 shows the FDI breakdown by industry. Manufacturing and real estate received the highest amount of FDI - 44.7% and 35.8% of the total amount received by the province respectively. A substantial amount of FDI was also channeled into other industries such as logistics, accommodation and catering, research, and technical service and geographic perambulation.

Foreign investors are encouraged to invest in auto parts, tourism, textiles, food processing, medicines, health products and other high-tech industries.


Major Development Zones
Guizhou has two state-level development zones - Guiyang Economic&Technological Development Zone and Guiyang National Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, along with thirteen provincial-level development zones.

Established in 1993, Guiyang Economic and Technological Development Zone covers an area of 63.1 sq km. Investments in equipment and machine manufacturing, plane parts, auto (including motorcycle) parts and basic industrial fittings are encouraged. CJ from South Korea and China’s leading electric home appliance maker, Hisence, have already established their presence here.

Guiyang National Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, approved in 1992, covers an area of 6.5 sq km. It consists of Xintian Park and Jinyang New Area in Guiyang. Investments in IT, software, medicine and pharmaceuticals, and other high-tech industries are encouraged. Snecma from France, AMC from Singapore and OSG from Japan entered the development zone in 2006.

Education
There are 36 universities and colleges in Guizhou. Its main university is Guizhou University, which is comprised of 24 schools offering 101 undergraduate disciplines, 80 master disciplines and 5 doctorate programs. It was established in 1902.

Major Cities in Guizhou
There are 9 cities in Guizhou province. Table 12.4.2 shows the GDP, population and land area of these cities. Among these cities, Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou, shows the greatest economic growth with a GDP of RMB 60.3 billion. The following section presents a brief overview of Guiyang.

Introduction
Guiyang, the provincial capital of Guizhou, is situated on the east slope of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau with the Yangtze River and Pearl River flowing through it. The city has a humid and temperate subtropical climate, and is abundant in mineral resources including coal, iron, silicon, barite, bauxite, phosphorus, sulphur, and mercury. It also has many natural and historical attractions such as Hongfeng Lake, Huaxi Park and the many historical relics of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. As a multi-ethnic city, Guiyang has various minority festivals which attract numerous tourists.

Economic Overview
The pillar industries of Guiyang consist of tobacco, Chinese medicine, metallurgy, chemicals, food processing and equipment manufacturing.

The total foreign trade volume reached US$1.1 billion, down 1.6% year-on-year, with exports increasing 5.2% year-on-year to US$801 million and imports dropping 15.3% year-on-year to US$318 million. Major export products included chemicals and related products (US$346 million), equipment and instruments (US$123 million), plastics, rubber and related products (US$88 million) and metal (US$85 million).

Guiyang has approved 30 foreign-invested projects with a utilized FDI of US$70 billion (up 16%). It is also home to the province’s two national development zones.

Important Travel Information
Time taken to travel from Guiyang to the following destinations: