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(1)外文名称: Wuhan City
(2)中文名称: 武汉市
(3)内容: Wuhan City
Lying in the eastern part of Hubei Province and at the confluence
of the Yangtze River and Hanjiang River, Wuhan is divided by the two rivers
into three parts - Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang, which have been called
the "Three Towns of Wuhan", standing like three legs of a tripod.
Wuhan is located in the Jianghan Plain - an alluvial plain formed by rivers
and lakes. Under the sub-topical monsoon climate and being rich in water
resources, Wuhan is known as a "city with hundreds of lakes"
for its vast water area of 2,137 sq km, accounting for one quarter of
its land area. Its fresh water area ranks first among Chinese cities.
Wuhan has a long history. The city's ancient Panlong town has a history of
over 3,500 years. Hankou was rated one of "the four famed towns under the
heaven" for its position of "Thoroughfare of Nine provinces" with developed
business radiating to its rim and neighboring provinces. The Hankou Town, called
"Chicago of the orient", has been the largest trade port in the inland of China.
Wuhan has become one of China's four economic centers only second to Shanghai, enjoying
the same popularity as Guangzhou and Tianjin.
Situated in the center of China's hinterland, Wuhan has a
good transport network composed of railways, highways and air routes linking
the city to all other large and medium sized cities in the country. It
covers an area of 8,549 sq km, including an urban area of 864 sq km. At
the end of 1996, it had a population of 7.18 million, including 3.7251
million urban residents.
Thanks to the drive of deepening reform and opening to the
outside world, Wuhan's economy has grown rapidly. In 1987, it formulated
the fundamental policy of "invigorating Wuhan through reforms".
Beginning from 1992, the reform measures mainly shifted to the restructuring
of the state-owned enterprises in the following five areas: changing the
ownership of some enterprises by adopting the shareholding system; developing
and enlarging some enterprises groups; using foreign funds to improve
some enterprises; merging, declaring bankruptcy, leasing, selling some
state-owned enterprises and transferring the property rights with diverse
ownership of some state-owned enterprises, as well as accelerating the
growth of the tertiary industry. At the same time, the city put emphasis
on establishing "foreign-funded enterprises in three forms of ventures",
village and township enterprises, district and community enterprises,
private-owned enterprises, private-operated technological enterprises
and the tertiary industry, in order to create new economic increase source.
As a result, the city's economy reported fast growth in the 1990s. Its
economic strength has reached a new level and its economic structure is gradually tending
toward coordination, with the ratio of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries to
the GDP standing at 9.2: 46.8: 44.
Located on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River emptying into the East
China Sea, Wuhan performs the same functions as a coastal city. Along with the development
of the whole Yangtze River Economic Belt and the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the
city will have brighter prospects for economic development. The two state-level
development zones of the city, the Donghu New & High-Tech Industrial Development Zone
and the Tunkou Economic and Technological Development Zone, have given full play to the
vigor of its economy by attracting a great
number of foreign investors.
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