Major Economic Indicators (2007)

Source: Dalian Economic and Social Development Report 2007

Introduction

Facing the Shandong peninsular, Dalian is located at the southern tip of the Liaodong peninsular, and borders the Bohai Sea to the west, and the Huanghai Sea to the east. In terms of population, it is the second largest city of Liaoning Province, and is also an important port city for trade, industry and tourism.
Temperatures in Dalian are not as extreme as in other inland cities, and tend to be warm and temperate, experiencing a continental monsoon climate. The average temperature is 10.5 Celsius, and rainfall is measured at 550-950 mm.

Dalian provides advantageous location and transport conditions. Sandwiched between China's north-east economic region and the Bohai bay economic region, the Dalian port was the nation's seventh-largest port in terms of throughput volume in 2007. Ships setting sail from Dalian can reach international cities as well as domestic locations around Bohai Bay and eastern coastal cities of China. Dalian is home to more than 40 international air-lines, and in 2007, the freight throughput of Dalian International Airport ranked thirteenth overall in China.

Economic Features

The pillar industries of Dalian are petrochemicals, equipment manufacturing, shipbuilding, electronics and information technology. In 2007, the value-added industrial output of these four sectors reached RMB 73.7 billion, up 22% over 2006, which accounted for 54.8% of the city's total value-added industrial output. Major companies include PetroChina's Dalian Corp, Dalian Locomotive & Roll Stock Works, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corp, and Dalian Port Corp.

Being the International Model City for the Software Industry, Dalian was established by the Ministry of Commerce as the service-outsourcing base of China, aiming at target markets in Japan and South Korea. By the end of 2007, there were more than 700 enterprises in software and information services, including over 200 foreign companies, forty of which are among the Fortune 500. In 2007, the revenue of the software and information industry in Dalian reached RMB 21.5 billion, one-hundred times more than in 1998.

Dalian is the financial center of north-east China, being the location for the largest number of foreign banks, as well as being home to the only foreign exchange center in the region. Dalian is also a locale for foreign insurance companies from Japan looking to set up their headquarters in China.

Dalian has one of China's four commodity exchanges. Corn, soybeans, soybean-meal, soybean oil, palm oil and polyethylene are its major exchange commodities. By the end of 2007, its accumulated trade value reached RMB 39.7 trillion, ranking second among all the agricultural product exchanges of the world.

In 2007, Dalian's total foreign trade value reached US$38.8 billion, up 21.9% from 2006, which accounted for 65.2% of the whole province's total foreign trade. Among the export products, the export of mechanical and electric products grew by 33.1%, accounting for 48.0% of the total export.

Dalian is one of the major destinations for foreign investors to invest in Liaoning. Within the same year, the city's utilized FDI amounted to US$3.2 billion, which accounted for 34.7% of the province's total FDI. Japan and South Korea were, and currently are, the major countries for investment.

Dalian facilitates excellent education in engineering at the Dalian Maritime University, and the well-known Dalian University of Technology. The former is recognized by the International Maritime Organization as one of the foremost maritime universities of the world. 

Cultural Highlights

Dalian is known as "Football City", owing to its citizens' great enjoyment of the game. Since the commencement of China's professional football league in 1994, the Dalian team has won the championship eight times.

Dalian has also been known as "Garment City" since the 1970s. Citizens in Dalian have a greater awareness of clothing fashion than citizens in other Chinese cities, especially women, and an international fashion festival is held in Dalian each year. Dalian has formed its own unique garment culture, gathering ideas, styles and features from elsewhere in China, Japan, Europe and America.

Tourist Attractions

Dalian is a popular vacation destination in summer, and is famous for its high latitude, unique landform, and a green rate of 42.3%. Surrounded by sea on three sides, Dalian has many beaches, including Tiger Beach, Xinghai Beach, Golden Pebble Beach and Fujiazhuang Beach. Another drawcard for Dalian is its many squares in its downtown area, due to the actions of some Russian architects a century previously in their attempt to include Dalian in the concept of "Oriental Paris". Etched on the squares, there are pigeons, fountains, statuaries, waltz, and the nation's unique female-mounted police.

Strong lines of descent from the Shandong Chinese through the Dalian population have resulted in excellent cuisine. Known as China's Lu Cuisine, the Dalian cuisine focuses heavily on seafood, and can be quite salty. Eating seafood is a wonderful experience in Dalian.

Major Development Zones

By the end of 2007, Dalian had 5 state-level development zones.

State-level Development Zones in Dalian

Source: National Development and Reform Commission of P.R. China

Honors

Best Tourism City (2007)
---National Tourism Administration of P.R. China

China Service Outsourcing Base (2006)
---Ministry of Commerce of P.R. China

Best Chinese City for Business (2005)
---Fortune

Living Environment Award (2003)
---Ministry of Construction of P. R. China

National Garden City (2003)
---Ministry of Construction of P.R. China

World Top 500 City for Environment (2001)
---United Nations

National Environmental Protection Model City (1997)
---Ministry of Environment Protection of P.R. China