Hefei City

Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province, located in the central region of China (Geographical coordinates: 32`N and 117`E) between Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers and near Chaohu Lake. It possesses a strategically important location easily accessible from all directions of the country, and it connects the vast area of Central China.

Hefei, well known both at home and abroad as “a historic site famous from the Three Kingdoms Period and the hometown of Lord Bao”, is a city with a history of more than 2000 years. Since the later Eastern Han Dynasty, it had been made governance site several times of the local government as a county or prefecture, constantly an important administration center and a crucial military stronghold in the region between Huaihe River and Yangtze River.

The name of “Hefei” first appeared in the Collected Biographies of Merchants under the Historical Records written by Sima Qian, a famous writer and historiographer in Chinese history. It goes like: Hefei, impacted economically from both north and south, was a collection and distribution center for furs, leather, aquatic products and timber. Between Qin and Han Dynasties, it was chartered as Hefei County, coming under the jurisdiction of Jiujiang Prefecture. Liu Xiu, an emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, upgraded Hefei to be a Kingdom. By the Three Kingdoms Period, Hefei was the seat of the government of Yangzhou Prefecture. Then between Ming and Qing Dynasties, it became the seat of the government of Luzhou Prefecture. Hence Hefei came to be also known as Luzhou.

Hefei enjoys a subtropical humid monsoon climate featuring mild climate with distinct seasons and appropriate precipitation. In spring the temperature varies frequently with an obvious raining period, rainfall concentrates in summer while autumn has crisp air and clear sky. The average temperature is 15.7℃, the mean precipitation is about 1000 millimeters and sunshine-time accounts for 2100 hours annually.

Since the opening-up and reform, Hefei has entered a fast track for its economic and social development. Its GDP has grown at a two-digit rate for more 20 years, resulting in a constant increase in its economic comprehensive strength. In 2004, the whole city realized 58.97 billion RMB in GDP, increased by 16.2% year on year and the average per-capita GNP reached 13,378 RMB. The retail sales of consumer goods totaled 23.977 billion in the year, increased by 15.6%, the annual fiscal revenue10.54billion, increased by 24.9%, of which local revenue was 4.493billion with an increase of 25.3%, the yearly import and export volume totaled 3.508 billion, increased by 16.3%，of which export volume was 2.189billion with an increase of 20.4%,and the import volume was 1.319 billion with and increase of 10.0%.