Transcript Urumqi

Urumqi
Statistics
 GDP: RMB 65.4 billion (2006)
 • Per Capita Disposable Income of Urban
Residents: RMB 10,432 (2006)
 • Economic Growth Rate: 14% (2006)
 • Population: 1.59 million (urban) – 0.43 million
(rural)
 • Unemployment Rate: 3.27% (2005)
 • Enrolment Rate for Children of School Age:
99.99% (2006)
 • FDI: US$69.2 million (2006)
Background
Xinjiang covers 16% of the total land area of China and is Populated by 13
of China's 55 minority nationalities.
Urumqi is the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China's
most western province.
Urumqi is the most inland city in the world so it is the furthest from any
major body of water.
Urumqi is 3,270 km from Beijing
With a population of one million, the city lies as a green-blanketed oasis
amidst Xinjiang's barren and uninhabited deserts, loess highlands, and
the snowcapped peaks of the Heavenly Mountain.
Economy
Urumqi is a major industrial centre within Xinjiang. Urumqi, together with Karamay and
Bayin'gholin account for 64.5% of the total industrial output of Xinjiang.
Urumqi is also the largest consumer centre in the region, recording ¥32.2 billion retail sales
of consumer goods in 2007, an increase of 18.24% from 2006.
The GDP per capita exceeded US$4,000 in 2007. According to statistics, Urumqi ranked 7th
in 2007 by the disposable income for urban residents among cities in Western China.
Urumqi has been a central developmental target for the China Western Development
project that the Central Government is pursuing.
The Urumqi Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Fair is held annually since 1991, whose
purpose is to promote domestic and foreign markets. The 17th Fair is seeing
participants from the Ministry of Commerce and the China Council for Promotion of
International Trade.
As the economic centre, Urumqi has expanded its urban area since the 1990s. The CBDs in
the city increase rapidly all around the major districts. Zhong Tian Plaza, located in one
of the CBDs in North Xinhua Road, is the tallest building in Urumqi and Xinjiang; with a
height of 229 meters, it is also the tallest in North-western China and Central Asia.
Lacking in subway, the outer ring road for the city was built in 2003, which considerably
facilitates transportation.
Sustainable Development
MODEL CITY URUMQI
The expansion of Urumqi is causing environmental
problems that are typical for cities in arid areas.
Such cities are characterised by limited ecological
resources as well as a high sensitivity and
reactivity towards changes caused by global
change and human impacts
As a result of this it is important to limit the growth of
the City otherwise resources may no be able to
continue to sustain the city
Jobs
Urumqi is the home of many secondary sector jobs. This is because it is
located in a very natural resource rich area with things such as coal.
Situated a long bus ride from the border with Kazakhstan, Urumqi has
become a key point for the transhipment of goods from interior China to
Central Asia and Russia. For some, the city has returned to its roots as a
stop on the ancient Silk Road, even if growling Russian and Chinese
eighteen-wheelers have replaced the camel caravans of old
The boom has left its mark on Urumqi. Immigrants from other parts of China
mostly members of the country's largest ethnic group, the Han have
moved to the region in large numbers, both pulled by the area's
economic potential and pushed by Beijing's "Go West" development
campaign.