Introduction
Located in the central area of Northeast China, Jilin borders Heilongjiang Province to the north, Liaoning Province to the south, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the west, Russia to the east and North Korea to the southeast. The average temperature in Jilin is between 3 to 5 degrees Celsius and the average annual precipitation is 350-1000mm. In a regular year, the light, heat and water conditions are suitable for crop-growing.

Jilin is abundant in natural and mineral resources. It has 27,000 kinds of wild plants, 9,000 kinds of medicinal herbs and 165 discovered minerals. Ginseng, sable and deer antlers, the “Three Northeastern Treasures”, renowned both in China and overseas, are specialties of the Jilin Province. The deposits of oil shale, diatomite, wollastonite, scoria, nickel, molybdenum and mineral water are also among the best in China. Timber production of Jilin is ranked sixth in the nation.

Economic Overview
Figure 10.2.1 shows the sectors’ contribution to the GDP. Industry is the leading contributor making up 44.8% of the GDP. The service sector also makes a substantial contribution with 39.5%. Agriculture comprises 15.7% of the GDP.

In terms of fixed asset investments, manufacturing leads the way, making up 36.7% of total fixed asset investments. Other noteworthy industries include real estate, public service, logistics and mining. Figure 10.2.2 illustrates this.

The major consumer centers are located in Changchun and Jilin City. In terms of retail sales, communications equipment, building and decorating materials, sports and recreations, goods grew markedly by 51.8%, 67.3% and 38.9% respectively in 2006. Foreign retailers, such as Carrefour and Wal-Mart, have also expanded into the province.

Agriculture
Because of its fertile soil, Jilin has been called one of the “Golden Corn Belts” of the world. Jilin has 55,760 sq km of arable land area, accounting for 4.3% of the nation’s total arable land area. The arable land area per capita in Jilin is 134% higher than the country’s average level. As the largest granary of China, the province’s grain output accounts for 5.5% of the country’s total output.

Industry
Jilin has four pillar industries - automobile manufacturing, petrochemicals, food processing and pharmaceuticals. Table 10.2.1 shows the key industries and their total industrial output, market share and growth. The province was once the centre of the nation’s industrial base. It is also very strong in automobile manufacturing. First Auto Works (FAW), China’s second largest carmaker after Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, is the pioneer of the country’s automobile industry. In 2006, the group had 11 subsidiaries throughout the country and produced 1.17 million automobiles with a production value of RMB 178.5 billion.

The petrochemical industry is the second pillar industry of Jilin. Since China’s first petrochemical company, Jilin Petrochemical Corp, was founded in 1957, the petrochemical industry in Jilin has been the strongest in the nation due to its rich mineral resources such as oil, oil shale and natural gas. In 2006, the total assets of the province’s petrochemical industry enterprises were RMB 86.4 billion, ranking them the top in China.

Benefitting from the advantages of rich agricultural resources, Jilin’s food processing industry grew quickly in recent years. Three major categories have been formed - corn processing led by Dacheng Corp, meat processing led by aoyue Corp and mineral water processing led by Quanyang Corp. Jilin also has the largest biofuel project in China.

The province is China’s primary base for modern Chinese traditional medicine. During the tenth five-year planning, Jilin was singled out for its comparative advantage in medicine resources, innovative ability and industry scale. Today, there are 317 pharmaceuticals manufacturers in Jilin. Tonghua Dongbao, Jilin Aodong and Changchun Haiwang are well-known brands in China.

Optoelectronic technology is one of the key industries in the province and with good reason. Based in Jilin, the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics gives Jilin a comparative advantage by providing technical support for the enterprises located in the Changchun Optoelectronic Industrial Park.


Services
Jilin’s service industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years. In 2006, the value-add of the service industry was RMB 168.7 billion, up 19.3% from 2005, accounting for 39.5% of the province’s total GDP.

The logistics industry has also developed very quickly in Jilin. The province sped up the construction of infrastructure such as railways and highways to connect the Far East of Russia with coastal cities like Dalian and Dandong. In addition, several large-scale logistics enterprises have been set up, such as Jilin Materials Group Corp.

The exhibition industry is also growing fast. In recent years, the provincial capital, Changchun, continued developing its capability to hold national and global exhibitions. There are more than 100 exhibitions held in Changchun each year and direct revenue is more than RMB 700 million. Related industries benefited from the exhibitions and had an annual income of RMB 6 billion.

Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment
In 2006, there were over 150 countries and areas that had trade relationships with Jilin. The province has 12 national open ports and 6 provincial open ports.

Jilin has organized different trade fairs in recent years to boost trade. Examples of some of these fairs are those held for automobile and auto parts (China Changchun International Automobile Fair), optical goods (China International Optoelectronic Expo), agricultural products and the China Jilin-Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo.

383 agreements were signed in 2006, with a total foreign investment of US$1.7 billion. They came mainly from the industries of manufacturing of transportation equipment, food processing, computer application and software, production and supply of gas, as well as pharmaceutical products. Germany was Jilin’s largest foreign investor in 2006, followed by the U.S., Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. Well-known international enterprises that have invested in Jilin include Pepsi-Cola, Ford and Chrysler from the U.S., Pilkington from the UK, Siemens and Volkswagen AG from Germany, and Nissan from Japan. Figure 10.2.3 shows Jilin’s major trading partners.

Jilin’s major exports are clothing, corn, steel, plywood and automobiles, while its major imports are auto parts, automobiles, ores, measuring instruments and engine parts. See Figure 10.2.4 and Figure 10.2.5 for breakdowns of exports and imports. Changchun and Jilin City are the two leading cities in attracting foreign investment. The local government encourages investment in auto parts, pharmaceuticals, agricultural products, opticals and electronics, infrastructure and public utilities.

Major Development Zones
There are several development zones in Jilin province. Three of the major ones are Changchun Economic and Technological Development Zone, Changchun High-Technology Industry Development Area, and Jilin High-Technology Industry Development Area.

Table 10.2.2 shows the area, pillar industries and number of enterprises in each of the three major zones. Changchun Economic&Technological Development Zone (CETDZ) enjoys all the preferential policies stipulated for the economic and technological development zones of open coastal cities.

It is in the east area of Changchun, 2 km away from a freight train station, 26 km away from Changchun Longjia Airport and about a 6-hour drive from Dalian Port. The three major Highways of Northeastern China all pass through this zone.

Changchun High-technology Industry Development Area (CHIDA) is located in the southwest of Changchun within the Changchun International Automobile City (a planned area of 100 km2), and adjacent to the First Auto Works and the government’s new administrative centre.

Jilin University can be found here. CHIDA is also a 20-min drive from the Changchun Train Station.

Education
Jilin has 80 universities and colleges with 640,000 students. Seventeen of these universities have postgraduate training courses. In 2006, there were 534 scientific research institutes. Key universities include Jilin University and Changchun University of Science and Technology.


Major Cities in Jilin Province
There are 9 cities in the Jilin province. Table 10.2.3 shows the cities’ GDP, land area, population and utilized FDI. The cities are also listed according to their GDP in 2006. As illustrated in the table, Changchun has the highest GDP in the province, with a GDP of RMB 174.1 billion. It also has the highest utilized FDI at US$523.7 million.

The following subsection presents a brief overview of Changchun, the capital of Jilin province. Introduction
Changchun is the capital of Jilin province, with a GDP accounting for 40.7% of the province’s total GDP. Thirty-eight percent of its land area is covered by forests, thus earning itself the nickname “Forest City”. The average temperature in Changchun is a cool 4.6 degrees Celsius. As one of the central cities in Northeast China, it has developed a strong transportation network with 34 domestic and international airlines, 13 major highways and the Jing-Ha Railway which connects Changchun with its neighbors in all directions.

Investment Climate
Pillar industries in Changchun are the automobile, food processing, building material, energy, medicine and photoelectric industries. Table 10.2.4 shows the major industries’ industrial output, share of the market and growth. As illustrated in the table, the automobile industry is the key industry in Changchun, lending it the name “Automobile City of China”. First Auto Works, a facility based in Changchun, is also the nation’s largest research and production base in the automobile industry.

Foreign Investment
In 2006, Changchun’s total foreign trade rose by 15.1% over 2005, accounting for 66.1% of the whole province’s total foreign trade. Changchun is one of the major destinations of FDI in Jilin. In recent years, the utilized foreign investment has become the third major capital source of its fixed asset investment (4.8%). Its utilized FDI accounts for 31.5% of the province’s total FDI.

Important Travel Information
Time taken to travel from Changchun Longjia International Airport to: