Province View-china.org.cn

Governor: Wang Jinshan

Capital: Hefei

Government office address: 221 Changjiang Road, Hefei City

Tel: 0551-260 1113, 260 1114

Postcode: 230001

Website: www.ah.gov.cn

Geographic location

Anhui Province, also called "Wan" for short, is located in the southeast of China. The province extends about 570 kilometers from north to south, and 450 kilometers from west to east, covering a total area of 139,600 square kilometers, accounting for 1.45% of the country's land. Anhui has 1,850 townships.

Anhui 2005 - The Year in Review

2004 in Review

General Economy
Gross domestic product (GDP)	GDP for 2005 was 537.58 billion yuan, up 11.8% from the previous year. Per capita GDP stood at 8,597 yuan (US$1,049.5).
GDP ratio (primary, secondary and tertiary industries)	The primary industry yielded a value added of 95.96 billion yuan, 1% more than that of the previous year; the secondary industry, 223.42 billion yuan, a growth of 18.8%; the tertiary industry, 218.2 billion yuan, a growth of 9.9%. The GDP ratio of the three sectors is 17.9: 41.6: 40.5.
Revenue and expenditure	Provincial revenue was 65.64 billion yuan, an increase of 26.1% over the previous year. Provincial expenditure was 70.04 billion yuan, an increase of 16.4%.
Consumer price index (CPI)	CPI was up 1.4% from the previous year.
Investment in fixed assets	Fixed asset investment was valued at 252.1 billion yuan, up by 31.7% from the previous year.
Major Industries
Agriculture	In 2005, the province's grain output totaled 26.05 million tons, a reduction of 1.38 million tons, or 5%, from the previous year.
Industry	The industrial added value totaled 183.32 billion yuan, an increase of 20.4%.
Construction	Its added value was 40.1 billion yuan, up by 11.5%.
Transportation	Freight carried by various means of transport during the year amounted to a total of 155.94 billion ton-kilometers, 7.5% up from the previous year. The figure includes 87.66 billion ton-kilometers by rail, 1.6% up; 42.27 billion ton-kilometers by highway, 20.8% up; 25.97 billion ton-kilometers by waterway, 9.4% up; and 37 million ton-kilometers by airway, 5.4% down. Passengers carried by various means of transport numbered 80.72 billion person-kilometers during the year, up 10.3% from the year before. The figure includes 30.18 billion person-kilometers by rail, up 6.8%; 48.12 billion person-kilometers by highway, up 12.7%; 31 million person-kilometers by waterway, down 36.9%; and 2.38 billion person-kilometers by airway, up 10.7%.
Postal services	The annual turnover of postal operations totaled 1.97 billion yuan, 0.4% up from the previous year.
Telecommunications services	The annual turnover of telecommunications services totaled 26.41 billion yuan, up by 26.6%. At the year-end, the number of fixed line subscribers reached 13.495 million, an increase of 1.579 million, and the number of mobile phone subscribers reached 10.469 million, an increase of 1.735 million. Internet users numbered 1.935 million.
Retail	The annual turnover from retail sales reached 176.5 billion yuan, an increase of 13.3% from the previous year.
Tourism	Revenue from tourism totaled 30.86 billion yuan, up by 16.1% from the 2004 figure. This includes US$250 million from overseas tourists and 28.9 billion yuan from domestic tourists.
Continued Effects of Market Reform
Imports & exports	The annual value of imports and exports totaled US$9.12 billion, up by 26.4% from the year before. Of this figure, US$5.19 billion were from exports, up 31.8%, and US$3.93 billion were from imports, up 20%.
Economic and technological cooperation	Overseas project and labor contracts signed during the year were valued at US$500 million, 1.1 times the figure of the previous year. Business turnover for the year totaled US$280 million, up by 32.9% from the previous year.
Foreign investment	The foreign direct investment which was materialized during the year stood at US$690 million, up by 26%.
Urban Construction and Management
Road transport and public utilities	The year 2005 saw the completion of the Lujiang-Tongling Express Highway as well as the Xuancheng section of the Xuancheng-Hangzhou double track railway.
Social Undertakings
Science and technology	The number of scientific research institutes at the end of the year was 932 and there were 89,000 people engaging in various scientific and technological activities. The total input in such activities stood at 12.13 billion yuan in 2005, up by 18% from the year before. Of this amount, 4.5 billion yuan were spent on research and development, up 20% from the year before.
Education	At the end of 2005, there were 81 institutions of higher learning in the province. The number of students enrolled in postgraduate schools and institutions of higher learning during the year stood at 8,198 and 199,000 respectively. About 99.54% of the school age children were enrolled in primary schools. A total of 86,000 people got rid of illiteracy during the year.
Culture	By the end of 2005, the province had a total of 93 arts performance organizations, 114 cultural and arts centers, 85 public libraries, 42 museums, and 124 archives. There were also 17 radio stations, 17 TV stations and 97 newspapers.
Public health	At the end of the year, there were 9,100 medical and health institutions equipped with 117,000 beds and staffed with 165,000 people. 16 counties (cities) began to pilot the new rural cooperative medical service which had covered a total of 6.14 million of peasants at the year-end.
Sports	In various international and national games, the athletes from the province won 22 gold medals, 27 silver medals and 29 bronze medals.
Welfare and aid	Various welfare units across the province at the end of 2005 were equipped with 48,000 beds and put up 37,000 homeless and vagrant people during the year. Urban community facilities available to the general public amounted to 6,750 at the year-end. The welfare lottery reaped sales of 1 billion yuan in 2005, raising 370 million yuan of social welfare fund.
Population, Employment, Social Security and Living Standards
Population	The year 2005 saw a birth rate of 12.43‰, and a death rate of 6.23%. The natural growth rate of the population stood at 6.2‰. At the end of the year, the total population stood at 65.16 million.
Employment	The employed population of the province at the end of 2005 stood at 36.696 million. About 424,000 new jobs were created during the year.
Registered unemployment rate	The registered urban unemployment rate was 4.4%.
Social security	At the year-end, insurance plans for endowments, unemployment and medical treatment covered a population of 5.696 million, 3.603 million and 3.87 million respectively.
Residents' income	The disposable income of urban residents was 8,471 yuan per capita, up by 11.5% from 2004. Rural residents' per capita net income was 2,641 yuan, up 5.7%.
Residents' consumption	Urban residents' per capita expenditure was 6,368 yuan, up by 11.5% from the previous year while that of rural residents was 2,196 yuan, up by 21.1%.
Geography and Natural Conditions
Topography	Anhui has a complex topography. With Yangtze River and Huaihe River running through the province from west to east, Anhui is divided into three regions, including Huaibei (North of Huaihe), Jianghuai (Between Yangtze and Huaihe), and Jiangnan (South of Yangtze). The North of Huaihe River, as part of the North China Plain, is a vast expanse of flatland. The middle area between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River is a chain of undulating hills. The lands by the two sides of the Yangtze River and around the Chaohu Lake are low and flat, belonging to the well-known Middle-Lower Yangtze River Plain. The south is mainly covered by hills. Generally, the province can be divided into five topographical zones: plain north of Huaihe River, hilly land between the Huaihe and Yangtze, Dabieshan mountainous area of West Anhui, plains along the Yangtze River and the hilly area in southern Anhui. Located in the transition region of the warm-temperate zone and subtropical zone, the climate of Anhui is warm and humid with distinctive seasons. The province's annual rainfall differs greatly and its weather is very changeful, with frequent spring droughts and summer floods.
Climate	The annual average temperature of Anhui is between 14°C to 17°C centigrade. The average annual sunshine hours are 1,800-2,500. The average frost-free period is 200 to 250 days. The annual average rainfalls are 800 to 1,800 millimeters.
Natural resources	Covering a total area of 4.33-million-hectare fertile farmland, Anhui is suitable for the growth of various crops. The total water reserve of Anhui is about 68 billion cube meters. Bishihang Irrigation Project and Simashan Diversion and Irrigation Project are two key irrigation projects of the province. Forested areas amounted to 3.6 million hectares at the end of 2005. Anhui is rich in plants and animals. It has a total of 1,300 woody plants and 2,100 more herbaceous plants. Among its more than 500 species of animals, 54 are listed as rare ones under state protection, including the Yangtze alligator and white-fin dolphin. By the end of 2005, a total of 31 nature reserves had been established, including 5 at the national level, 25 at the provincial level and 1 at the county level. Anhui has a rich mineral resource, which is great in variety and concentrated in distribution. Among the 138 discovered minerals, 104 have had their reserves proved.