Profiles of China Provinces, Cities and Industrial Parks

Major Economic Indicators

Notes: ¹ In real terms   
            ² For all state-owned enterprises and other forms with annual sales over RMB 5 million
Sources: Beijing Statistical Yearbook 2010, Beijing Statistical Bureau. China’s Customs Statistics 12.2010, 9.2011

General Background

Beijing has a total area of 16,411 square kilometers. Total population stood at 19.6 million by the end of 2010.

Beijing is the capital of China and the country's political, cultural and international exchange center. Beijing is one of the four autonomous municipalities（直轄市）along with Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing, which enjoys similar economic and administrative autonomy as a province.

The private sector in Beijing has developed rapidly. By the end of 2010, there were about 496 thousands of private enterprises, increased by 228% from just 151 thousands in 2002.

Industries

Beijing’s service sector accounted for 75.1% of the city’s GDP in 2010. Financial services, whole-sale trade and retail trade, information technology services were the three biggest sectors, composing 13.2%, 13.3%, and 8.6% of the GDP respectively. And the real estate sector recorded the fast growth in recent years and accounted for 7.1% of the GDP in 2010.

Composition of GDP (%)

Source: Beijing Statistical Yearbook 2005, 2011.

Beijing is pushing forward the development of modern services sectors, including the development of services outsourcing, cultural and creative industries.  Beijing is one of the eleven services outsourcing bases in China.  Beijing has also adopted a cultural and creative industry development programme. In 2010, the value-added output of the cultural and creative industry grew by 13.6% to RMB169.2 billion, accounting for about 12.3% of Beijing’s GDP.

Beijing’s industrial production is dominated by heavy industries and large enterprises. In 2010, heavy industries accounted for 85.4% of Beijing’s gross industrial output and large and medium size enterprises accounted for 76.7% of the output. Major industries include telecommunications equipment, transportation equipment, chemicals, machinery, metallurgy and food making.

Output Share of Leading Industry Groups (2010)

Source: Beijing Statistical Yearbook 2011

High-tech development

Beijing is keen to develop hi-tech industries such as electronics, information technology, biological engineering, pharmaceutical and new materials. In 2010, gross industrial output of hi-tech industry amounted to RMB300.4 billion, representing 22% of Beijing’s gross industrial output.

In 2010, Beijing’s total R&D expenditure amounted to RMB82.2 billion, up 17.4%, accounting for 5.8% of its GDP.

Beijing is trying to build a Chinese Silicon Valley and in this connection, Zhongguancun, the famous High and New Technology Development Zone, has been set up in 1988 to attract investment in science and technology. In 2010, total sales revenue of the Zhongguancun High and New Technology Development Zone reached RMB1,594 billion, up 22.6% from 2009. In the first nine months of 2011, total sales revenue grew by 15.3% to RMB1,232 billion. By the end of 2010, there were 15,720 enterprises operating in Zhongguancun, employing over 1.16 million people.

Beijing’s strengths in human capital and scientific research have helped its development of hi-tech industry. Beijing has the largest number and the most prestigious institutions of higher education and scientific research in the country. There are more than 117 scientific research institutions which can provide education to graduate students. In 2010, more than 260,000 employed persons were engaged in R&D activities.

Tourism

Tourism is also an important industry in Beijing. The city has been the capital of China since the Yuan Dynasty. Its tourist attractions feature its rich palatial heritages. In 2010, the tourist market received 4.9 million overseas tourists, bringing foreign exchange revenue of US$5 billion; 179 million domestic tourists were received, bringing revenue of RMB243 billion.

Foreign Trade

Hong Kong was the second largest export market of Beijing, following the US and followed by Japan. In 2010, Hong Kong accounted for 6.4% of Beijing’s exports. Exports to Hong Kong grew by 28.8% in 2010 to US$4,013 million. Major exports included mechanical and electronic products, vessels and garments.

The US is the leading source of imports, followed by Japan and Germany. In 2010, Beijing imported US$2,310 million from Hong Kong, up 30.4%.

Foreign Investment

Among the world’s largest 500 enterprises, more than 185 have invested in Beijing. And over 40 of MNCs, such as NEC, SUN, P&G and Schlumberger, have set up R&D center and production facilities in Development Areas in Beijing.

Inflow of foreign direct investment recorded steady growth in recent years, despite a slow down in 2009. From 2003 to 2010, utilised FDI recorded an average annual growth at 16.8%. In 2010, the utilized amount of FDI increased by 4% to US$6.4 billion.

The utilized amount of FDI in the service sector increased by 6.7% and accounted for about 89% of the total utilised FDI in Beijing in 2010. Areas that attracted the largest share of foreign investment included leasing & business services, real estates, information transmission, computer services & software. Utilized FDI in the real estate sector grew markedly by 78% in 2010 while the wholesale & retail sector grew by 19%.

Hong Kong was the largest source of overseas investment in Beijing in 2010. Utilised FDI from Hong Kong increased by 15.7% to US$3,129 million, accounting for 49.2% of the total FDI. Larger investment projects are concentrated in the property sector. In recent years, Hong Kong investors have invested in the renewal of old cities. Hong Kong property developers such as Sun Hung Kai and Kerry Group have invested in reconstruction projects of old building located in Xidan and Wangfujing. Besides, Hong Kong developers (including Sun Hung Kai, Cheung Kong and New World) have engaged in developing shopping centers, as well as commercial and residential complexes.

Other major investors came from British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Japan, US, Singapore and Germany.

Consumer Market

Purchasing power is strong in Beijing. In terms of per capita disposable income of urban residents, Beijing reached RMB29,073 in 2009, which was up by 8.7% from 2009. Huge consumption demand from both the local residents and tourists has made Beijing one of the biggest consumer markets in China.

Composition of Per Capita Expenditure of Urban Household (%)

Source: Beijing Statistical Yearbook, 2005, 2011.

Beijing’s three traditional shopping districts － Wangfujing, Xidan and Qianmen are well known in the country. In more recent years, due to development of the different ring roads, new shopping and commercial districts have developed at or outside the third ring such as the Chaoyang District and Haidian District.

Attracted by the size and potential of the consumer market, new department stores and shopping complexes mushroomed in the past few years. Retail outlets such as supermarkets, convenient stores, and warehouse clubs have also developed rapidly. Discount store outlet, such as Dia, also entered into the market.

In recent years, foreign invested chain super markets such as Carrefour, Makro, Ito Yokado, etc. emerged. The operation of foreign invested enterprises has stimulated the development of other local chain stores and supermarket type of retail groups such as Hualian and Gome.