Overview of Xiamen

2017-05-04

 

 

Xiamen is situated on the southeast coast of China (coordinates: 24°26′46″N and 118°04′04″E), comprising Xiamen Island, Gulangyu Island and part of the coastal areas on the northern bank of inland Jiulong River. Xiamen Island proper, the fourth largest Island in Fujian Province, is 13.7 kilometers long from north to south and 12.5 kilometers wide from east to west, spreading over an area of 141.09 square kilometers. Under the city's jurisdiction are six districts, namely Siming, Huli, Jimei, Haicang, Tong'an and Xiang'an.

 

 


It has been accredited with various laurels, including “National City of Excellence in Civil Ethics”(top position for 4 consecutive terms),“National Model City for Environmental Protection”, “National Sanitary City”,“National Garden City”,“LivCom Award”,“China Habitat Award” and “UN Habitat Scroll of Honor Award”. 

 

 

Xiamen's pursuit of development is about to turn a new chapter. Building upon its Special Economic Zone status, Xiamen has been newly designated as part of Fujian Pilot Free Trade Zone, which enables the city to deepen interactions with the rest of the world. Xiamen is also embracing the unprecedented opportunities brought by the “Belt and Road” initiative with pragmatism and efficiency.

 

 

 

Xiamen sets up an overarching goal for the next 5 years, i.e. taking the lead to build a moderately prosperous society in all aspects, a model city of “Five Development Concepts”(innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development) and an exemplary city of “Beautiful China”, in short , making greater contribution to Fujian province and China.

 

 

 

Xiamen has a subtropical climate, characterized by balmy summer, mild winter and ample rainfalls. The annual average temperature is about 21℃. Every year the city is affected by typhoons, which mainly occurs between July and September.

 

Xiamen has a terrain slightly sloping from northwest to southeast. In the northwest stand many medium-low height mountains. Yunding Peak is Xiamen's highest point with an altitude of 1,175.2 meters above sea level. Xiamen Island proper has a hilly south and geographically inclines from south to north. The Island' s highest peak is Yunding Rock with a height of 339.6 meters above sea level. Yundang Harbour penetrates into Xiamen Island from the central-west, separating Dongdu Port Zone from the old downtown area. Gulangyu Island lies to the southwest of Xiamen Island, across the 600-meter-wide Lujiang River. Gulangyu's highest point, Sunlight Rock, stands 93 meters above sea level.

 

 

 

The sea areas of Xiamen consist of Xiamen Port, outer port area, Maluan Bay, Tong'an Bay, Jiulong River estuary and eastern waterway. Right outside Xiamen Port area lie a string of islands including Greater Kinmen Island, Lesser Kinmen Island, Dadan Island and Erdan Island while in the inner harbor area there are Xiamen Island and Gulangyu Island, making it a natural haven for boats. Shipping routes within the port area are mostly over 10 meters deep, allowing all-time entry and departure of 50,000-tonnage vessels. The city's coastline stretches 234 kilometers, of which 43 kilometers are more than 12 meters deep and 27 kilometers are favorable for port facilities.

 

 

 

Xiamen is abundant in living marine resources. It boasts nearly 2,000 species of marine creatures, including 157 kinds of fishes, 87 kinds of mollusks, 127 kinds of shellfishes and 139 kinds of algae that are of economic value. Lancelets and Chinese White Dolphins are listed under first-class national protection and prioritized provincial-level protection. The city is short of metallic mineral resources while granite and sand constitute its major nonmetallic mineral resources.

 

 

 

 As an island city, Xiamen is in shortage of fresh water resources. 80% of fresh water for domestic use comes from Jiulong River. The average annual volume of water resources is 1.247 billion cubic meters and the per capita water resource is only 513 cubic meters.

 

 

 

 Most of the population in Xiamen is of Han ethnicity. There are also more than 20 minority ethnic groups such as Hui, Manchu, Zhuang, She, Miao and Gaoshan. Xiamen is the home to a large number of returned overseas Chinese, as well as compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, due to its unique geographical location and history. As of the end of 2015, Xiamen has a permanent resident population of 3.86 million, of which 88.9% (or 3.43 million) live in urban area while 11.1% (or 430,000) in rural area.

 

 

 

In 2016, the GDP of Xiamen reached 373.7 billion yuan, increasing by 8%. The social fixed asset investment amounted to 217 billion yuan, up by 15%. The disposable income growth of rural and urban residents per capita roughly kept pace with the economic growth. The energy-saving and emission reduction target was fully achieved. VAT reform resulted in 20-billion-yuan cost reduction for enterprises. Xiamen Free Trade Zone has made remarkable progress, with its “single window” service model being selected as one of China' s FTZ “Best Practices”.

 

City Flower—Bougainvillea

City Tree—Flamboyant Tree

City Bird—Egret

 

[ Web editor:Wu Jianhan, Robin Wang    Source:brics2017.org ]