Profiles of China Provinces, Cities and Industrial Parks

Tacheng, under the jurisdiction of the Yili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, is located in the north of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and adjacent to the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is one of the major border land port cities in Xinjiang.

Tacheng is located in a mid-temperate zone. It has a semi-arid continental climate with hot, short summers and cold, long winters. Temperatures in spring and autumn are unpredictable.

Tacheng is also rich in natural resources. Oil, natural gas, iron ore, chromite, gold and coal deposits can be found here. The city’s chromite deposit is the second largest in China.

Transportation in Tacheng is convenient. Tacheng Airport is located in the east of the city, 28.5km from its downtown area. It has scheduled flight to Urumqi everyday. The extension of the Lianyungang-Lanzhou-Urumqi Railway and the China National Highway 312 run through Wusu and Shawan – two counties under the jurisdiction of Tacheng.

In 2007, Tacheng's GDP amounted to RMB 16.5 billion – an 18.5% increase from the previous year and accounting for 4.7% of Xinjiang's total. It is expected to realize GDP of RMB 21 billion in 2010.

Primary industry (agriculture) and the processing industry play important roles in the development of Tacheng. Currently, it has established stock raising, safflower processing, cotton and textile processing, tomato planting and processing, and green foods processing as its pillar businesses. Tacheng has been an important cotton export base, the largest safflower planting base and a green livestock products base.

In addition, oil production, sugar production and coal mining are some of the city's major industries. The national Karamay-Duzishan petrochemical base is one of the four major petrochemical bases in Xinjiang, with proven oil reserves of 1.7 billion tons and natural gas reserves of 50 billion cubic meters. To date, Duzishan Petrochemical General Factory has annual oil refining and ethylene production capacities of 6 million tons and 250,000 tons respectively.

Since Tacheng is a land port city adjacent to the Republic of Kazakhstan and Russia, it has great potential for the development of border trade. Its major export goods include fruit and vegetables, cotton and chemical products, etc. It realized a total import and export value of US$601 million, down 21.1% from the previous year.

Since there are 28 minority races living in Tacheng, it has been a multicultural city throughout history. Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty once designated it as the "City of Appeasement (pacification)".

Tacheng attracts tourists with its beautiful scenery and cultural relics such as hot springs, Pine Valley, Jiulian Spring, Buckhorn Valley, Green Ground, Tiechanggou Stone Inscription and Tujue Stone Portrait, etc.

The city is famous for its traditional Xinjiang snacks such as Nang (pancake), Roasted Baozi, Hand Pulled Noodles and Hand Grabbed Rice, amongst others. The most renowned dishes are the bacon and Hand Grabbed Mutton of the local Kazakh people. In addition, various kinds of milk tea are also worth tasting.

By the end of 2007, Tacheng had one state-level development zone.