The province has three distinctive landforms from north to south. The Loess Plateau in the north has an elevation of 800-1,300 meters, and accounts for 45 percent of the total area of the province. The Central Shaanxi Plain in the middle averages an elevation of 520 meters. The Qinling and Daba mountainous areas in the south include the Qinling Mountains, Daba Mountains, and Hanjiang River Valley, accounting for 36 percent of the total area of the province. The Qinling Mountains measures 1,000-3,000 meters in elevation and the Daba Mountains in the southernmost of the province, 1,500-2,000 meters.
So far, 91 kinds of minerals have been found in the province, 58 of which have deposits ranking among the top ten in China. The reserves and output of gold rank fifth and fourth respectively. The output of molybdenum amounts to half of the country¡¯s total. The proved deposits of coal, the most abundant mineral in the province, come to 161.8 billion tons. The Shenmu-Fugu Coalfield in northern Shaanxi has reserves of 134 billion tons. It is one of the best fields in the world because of its thick coal layer and easy access and exploitation. In addition, northern Shaanxi has a gas field with proved reserves of 350 billion cubic meters.
North of the Qinling Mountains is the Yellow River system, composed of the Weihe, Jinghe, Luohe, and Wuding rivers. South of the mountains is the Yangtze River system consisting of the Hanjiang, Danjiang, and Jialing rivers. The Hanjiang River, the largest river in the province, provides more than half of the province¡¯s total water runoff. Shaanxi has an annual water runoff of 42.6 billion cubic meters, which has a power-generation potential of 14 million kw.3. Animals
Shaanxi has more than 750 species of wild vertebrates, 79 of them rare. It is home to 12 species of animals and birds under state protection including the giant panda, snub-nosed monkey, and clouded leopard.4. Plants:
The province has 59,300 square kilometers of forest in the Qinling, Daba, Guanshan, Huanglong, and Qiaoshan mountainous areas. It has a 28.8 percent rate of forest coverage. It has 3,300-plus species of wild plants, 37 of them rare. The province has 800 species of medicinal plants of great economic value including sea-buckthorn and gynostemma pentaphylla. It leads the country in the output and quality of raw lacquer. The traditional exports of the province are dates, walnut meat, and tung oil.5. Tourism resources
Dispersed in Shaanxi are 72 imperial mausoleums, witness to the ancient economy and culture. The province is best known for ten scenic spots including the Mausoleum of Huang Di, the Qin terra-cotta warriors and horses, the Xi¡¯an Forest of Stone Tablets, the Shaanxi Museum of History, and the city gate and wall of Xi¡¯an. The Qin terra-cotta warriors and horses are often called the Eighth Wonder of the World and have been included by UNESCO in the list of World Cultural Heritages.
Environment and current issues
Desertification and soil erosion.
In ancient times, Shaanxi was
endowed with lush grass and dense forest and was known as Nature¡¯s Storehouse
and Green Sea on Land, but over the course of many dynasties the beautiful
land was gradually destroyed and replaced by the Loess Plateau and crisscrossed
by gullies because of severe desertification, war and soil erosion. The
Yan¡¯an and Yulin areas are the most affected by the erosion on the upper
reaches of the Yellow River. This section of the Yellow River brings down
more than 100 million tons of silt per year.
Total population: 35.96 million. The population density is 174 persons per square kilometer.
Population growth rate: 0.713%
Life expectancy (average)
Ethnicity: The Han ethnic group accounts for 99.4 percent of the total. Other groups include the Hui, the Manchu,and the Mongolian.
Primary-school graduates: 13.8 million (male: 6.93 million; female: 6.87 million)
Junior-middle-school graduates: 10.06 million (male: 5.68 million; female: 4.38 million)
Senior-middle-school graduates: 3.71 million (male: 2.14 million; female: 1.57 million)
University and college graduates: 854,000 (male: 531,000; female: 323,000)
Domestic Product (GDP): 148.76 billion yuan
GDP growth rate: 8.4% (1999)
Average GDP per capita: 3,834 yuan
GDP ratio (1st, 2nd, and tertiary industries): 20.5: 41.1: 38.4%
Poverty alleviation plan
Revenues: 933 billion yuan
Industrial output value: 129.5 billion yuan
Agricultural output value: 34 billion yuan
In 1999, the province had an annual import and export volume of US$2.033 billion, its exports hitting US$1.177 billion, and obtained a turnover of US$86.07 million from contracted labor services in foreign countries, which involved 1,883 technicians and specialized personnel.
In 1999 the province had 157 projects involving foreign capital and had an actual utilization of US$265 million in foreign funds. It had 2,980 foreign-funded enterprises, and many transnational corporations have settled in the province including the Brother Company of Japan, the MEMC Corp. of the United States, the Philip Corp. of Holland, and the Northern Electric Appliance Corp. of Canada.
Electronics, machinery, pharmaceutical
industry, chemicals, energy, foodstuff, and tourism.
Radios and TV stations
Shaanxi has 11 TV stations
and 11 radio stations, among which the Shaanxi People's Broadcasting Station
is the largest of its kind
The province is constructing a highway transportation network comprised of nine national highways with Xi'an at the core. The province has a total expressway length of 385 kilometers, and the highways now reach 95 percent of the villages.
The Xianyang Airport is the
largest air hub in northwest China, and the expansion of the airport has
been started. The province has opened 119 domestic and international air
routes and has flights to 51 cities in China.
VI. Projects wanting foreign investment
|¡¡Infrastructure, chemicals, pharmaceutical industry, metallurgy, machinery, electronics, light industry, foodstuff, and building materials|
VII. Favorable policies for foreign investment
Article 1 The provisions are formulated according to the relevant stipulations on foreign investment of the state and the situations of Shaanxi.
Article 2 The provisions shall apply to the projects of Sino-foreign joint ventures, Sino-foreign cooperative enterprises, and foreign-owned enterprises within Shaanxi.
Article 3 Foreign investors are preferentially treated when collected land-use fee according to the following:
¡¡¡¡(1) Foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) engaged in export, hi-tech industry, agricultural development, energy, transportation, and social welfare enjoy exemption of land-use fee.
¡¡¡¡(2) FIEs of production nature are exempt from land-use fee within half of their contracted period, after which, they are levied according to the defined in the contracts.
¡¡¡¡(3) FIEs contracted before the provisions are issued are taxed according to their contracts.
Article 4 FIEs are favored to the rights of land use, development, utilization and management with the longest period of 70 years. The right of land use can be legally transferred, released, mortgaged, and handed over. The procedures must go through with the land management departments and procedure fees are discounted.
Article 5 Foreign investors can choose the following forms of investment:
¡¡¡¡¡¡(1) Sino-foreign joint ventures, Sino-foreign cooperative enterprises, and wholly foreign-owned enterprises.
(2) Compensation trade, material processing, processing with supplied samples, assembling with supplied parts, and cooperative production.
(3) Contracting and leasing state-owned and collective industrial and commercial enterprises.
(4) Purchasing small state-owned, collective, and private-owned enterprises.
(5) Other cooperative forms allowed by laws and regulation.
Article 6 FIEs in the fields of export, advanced technology, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, energy, transportation and public welfare will be exempted from local income tax, city housing and land tax, and car license tax, while ordinary productive FIEs in Xi'an can do so within 60 percent of the operation period. Beyond the exemption period, FIEs can continue to enjoy tax reduction in case of economic difficulty, which is only allowed with approval of taxation departments.
Article 7 FIEs are allowed to accelerate the fixed asset depreciation for special reasons with the approval of the concerned taxation bureau.
Article 8 FIEs may achieve balance between foreign exchange receipts and payments by product exporting. In case of transient imbalance, FIEs which introduce by foreign currency projects of up-dated technology, facilities of agriculture, energy, transportation, and telecommunications shall submit manifest and can purchase China-made products for exports with RMB with approval of the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Cooperation. Foreign investors are encouraged to invest in the infrastructure facilities and other projects in the economic and development zones and hi-tech development zones. FIEs can be served with foreign exchange service by the relevant foreign exchange department.
Article 9 Priority is given to FIEs in the utilization of public facilities, water, electricity, transport, and telecommunications.
Article 10 FIEs pay the same amount of money as state-owned enterprises for the needed materials, telephone installation, water, electricity, transport, designing, consultation and medical care. When purchasing the above-mentioned with foreign currency within China, the charge is based on the FOB (free on board) price.
Article 11 FIEs have the rights to turn down the fees and taxes other than those in the defined list of law and regulations.
Article 12 A special card or a certificate issued by the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Cooperation to staff and workers from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan as well as from foreign countries in FIEs shall enjoy the same national treatment concerning accommodation, travel and medical care in Shaanxi and the charges can be settled in RMB.
Article 13 FIEs are allowed to get loans preferentially for the needed production fund with approval of the banks of their deposits and local banks.
Article 14 If the domestic freight of the products by FIEs is higher than that in coastal areas, the exceeding amount can be properly subsidized by the Chinese side. The amount of subsidy shall be specified by the concerned parties in the contract.
Foreign investors can entrust their Chinese relatives and friends as their agency in China. They can recommend their relatives and friends to work in their invested enterprises. For the invested project involving investment over US$200,000 one of relatives and friends of the outside investors can work in the enterprise and change his or her status from agricultural to non-agricultural one. For the investment over US$400,000 two can enjoy this policy. More than three are not allowed for any project.
Enterprises established by people with freely convertible currency from their foreign business relatives and friends, with foreign share over 25 percent, shall be treated as foreign invested enterprises and enjoy the preferential policies thereof.
The go-betweens of FIEs successfully introducing foreign investors into Shaanxi are awarded in ratio to the introduced investment with RMB free of the income tax and individual income regulation tax:
(1) After the operation of FIEs, the go-betweens are awarded with 0.1-0.3 percent of the actual foreign investment by FIEs within one month.
(2) The go-betweens of the compensation trade projects are paid with 0.1-0.3 percent of the actual contracted volume.
Foreign investors are not subject to purchasing restrictions and can buy cars and daily-use articles through concerned departments.
Foreign investors have the rights to make an appeal to the local governments and relevant superior departments in case of any infringement act.
The procedures of examination and approval of the contract and the feasibility study report of the establishment of FIEs cannot exceed ten days each and the license will be issued within seven days. FIEs have the right to send their employees abroad and go through required formalities with the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.
These provisions are also applied to the enterprises established by overseas Chinese and investors from the regions of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.
The right of interpretation of these provisions belongs to the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Note: In case of differences of interpretation, the text in the English language should be considered as the text of reference.