1.1 Geographical position

Hunan Province is located in central south of China, between latitudes 24°39'N to 30°08'N, and longitudes 108°47'E to 114°15'E, covering an area of 210,000 km2. It is located in the south of the famous Dongting Lake, hence the name Hunan, which literally means south of the lake in Chinese. It is also called Xiang for short, named after the longest river in the province. In the north, there is Hubei province. The two provinces are separated by the Yangtze River. Linking the rivers and seas, Hunan belongs to the open and development belt of the middle and lower reaches 1.2 Natural Resources

Rich in natural resources, Hunan has long been known as a Land of Rice and Fish, the Home of Nonferrous Metals, Home of Non-metallic Minerals and a Tourists Resort. There are more than 2,000 species of woody plants, including 1,000 species of economic plants, 800 species of medicinal plants and 60 species of rare plants (put on the list of the state protection). The growing forest tree amount is 314 million m3, with the forest coverage rate of 56.1%. There are over 40 kinds of rare birds and animals, and over 160 kinds of natural fishes.

The surface-water totals more than 200 million cubic meters and the underground water stock comes to 45.5 billion cubic meters. Waterpower resources add up to 15.32 million kW (15,320MW), and exploitable waterpower reaches 10.83 million kW (10830MW). Of all the more than 160 minerals discovered in the world, Hunan has 141, among which 41 kinds such as antimony, tungsten, manganese and etc., rank at the top five in China in terms of recoverable storage amount. There are 10 tourist areas and more than 100 scenic spots in Hunan. Mountain Hengshan or Nanyue Mountain is a special Buddhism mountain among China's five sacred mountains; Yueyang Pavilion is one of the three famous ancient pavilions south to the Yangtze River. Especially, the WulingYuan Scenic Zone, with Zhangjiajie National Forest Park as the center, once being developed, reveals its wonderful, elegant, tranquil, and precipitous sceneries. Therefore, it is praised as great natural wonders by the travelers from China and abroad, and it is inscribed on the World Heritage List by United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Located in central subtropical zone, Hunan has a continental wet monsoon climate. Its annual temperature averages 16℃-18℃, sunshine time 1,300-1,800 hours, frost-free period 278-300 days, and precipitation 1,200-1,700mm. With sufficient sunshine, plentiful rain and distinct seasons, Hunan has favorable conditions for agricultural production.

1.3 Conditions of Economy and Technology
Hunan has scaled a new height in economic construction in the past 30 years since the reform and opening up.

In 2008, its GDP made a breakthrough, reaching RMB 1115.664 billion Yuan, up by 12.8% based on 2007. The primary, secondary and tertiary industries rose respectively by 200.740 billion Yuan, 493.308 billion Yuan and 421.616 billion Yuan, up 5.3%, 14.9% and 13.3%. Calculated on the basis of the permanent resident population, GDP per capita amounted to RMB 17.521 Yuan, up 12.5%. The total budgetary revenue added up to 130.855 billion Yuan, up by 16.5%. The local fiscal revenue totalled 71.702 billion Yuan, up by 18.2%.

The New-type industrialization has enhanced its leading role. The proportion of the three industries is 18.0: 44.2:37.8. The primary and secondary industries rose by 0.3% and 1.6%. The added value of industrial output accounts for 38.4% in the gross local product and 47.1% in the province's economic growth.

1. Agriculture
Hunan enjoys exceptional advantages in developing agriculture. As an old saying goes, the reaped grains from Hunan and Guangdong can suffice all the Chinese people. Hunan's output capacity of the main farming and sideline products are in leading position in China. Output of rice, ramie, tea oil, tung oil stands first in China; live pigs stand second and tea in forth. Oranges, tobacco, fresh water fish and etc. are listed in top 10 of the total output in China.

The agriculture has been developing in a comprehensive way. In 2008,The province's farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery grew by 200.74 billion Yuan, an increase of 5.3%. Among them, the farming grew by 103.832 billion Yuan, an increase of 2.0%; the forestry by 12.867 billion Yuan, an increase of 5.8%; the animal husbandry by 67.832 billion Yuan, an increase of 10.5%; the fishery by 11.285 billion Yuan, an increase of 6.8%.

A record of 29,693,500 tons in grain output was created, an increase of 2.0%.

 

Post and telecommunication industry increase fast. In 2008, the business volume of post and communication was RMB 75.214 billion, up by 21.4%, the volume of post service being RMB 3.410 billion and that of telecommunication being RMB 71.804 billion. By the end of the year, the switch board totalled 48,141,000, an increase of 29.6%. The number of fixed phone users in the whole province reached 12,573,200, a decrease of 4.8% compared with the previous year. The number of mobile phone users grew by 19.5% to reach 22,606,400. Every 100 people owned 18.37 fixed phones, down by 1.03; and 33.03 mobile phones, up by 5.23. The internet users reached 22,227,000 with a net increase of 4.2%.

5. Finance, Securities and Insurance Financial support to the economy has obviously increased. By the end of 2008, various deposits at the financial organizations in the whole province were RMB 698.942 billion Yuan, increasing by RMB 127.247 billion Yuan based on the beginning of the year ,and up by 43.876 billion Yuan compared with the previous year. Among the loans in the short term, the industrial loan totalled RMB 60.409 billion Yuan, up by 10.216 billion Yuan; the agricultural loan totalled RMB 64.958 billion Yuan, up by 10.046 billion Yuan. Among the loans in the medium and long term, the infrastructure loan totalled RMB 194.424 billion Yuan, up by 33.245 billion Yuan; the individual consumer loan totalled RMB 52.264 billion Yuan, up by 10.837 billion Yuan.

The deposit in the financial institutions surpassed RMB 1000 billion Yuan. By the end of 2008, the bank deposit reached RMB 1,089.549 billion Yuan, an increase of 181.227 billion Yuan based on the beginning of the year and an increase of 45.910 billion Yuan compared with the previous year, among which, RMB 31.451 billion Yuan came from the enterprises, a decrease of 18.816 billion Yuan and RMB 122.772 billion Yuan from urban and rural residents, an increase of 66.747 billion Yuan.

Renewed progress was achieved in securities market. By the end of 2008, there were 49 province-based listed companies, 1 more than that of 2007; there were 5 out-of-the-province listed companies, the same with that of 2007. The annual direct finance from the capital market was 27.175 billion Yuan, up by 48.8% compared with the previous year. The enterprises in the province obtained from the capital market RMB 6.759 billion Yuan, among which, RMB 1.22 billion Yuan came from the initial financing and RMB 5.366 billion Yuan from re-financing. The finance from the external stock market was 0.173 billion Yuan. By the end of 2008, the service office and business office of the securities companies in the whole province reached 44 and 94 respectively with the securities turnover of 2,275.122 billion Yuan, increasing by 1,242.959 billion Yuan, down by RMB 1,032.163 billion Yuan. There were 4 futures companies with the turnover of RMB 1,278.222 billion Yuan, increasing by RMB 752.429 billion Yuan compared with 2008.

The insurance industry developed fast. In 2008, the premium income totalled 31.249 billion Yuan, increasing by 55.2%. The growth rate was 19 percentage points higher than that in 2007. The premium for property insurance amounted to 6.162 billion Yuan which increased by 28.9%; life insurance premium, 22.906 billion Yuan which increased by 68.8%, health insurance premium, 1.489 billion Yuan which increased by 40.3%; and premium for casualty insurance, 691 million Yuan which decreased by 3.2%. Various reparations and expenses in the year were RMB 9.452 billion Yuan which increased by 35.7%. The payment for the frost catastrophe at the beginning of 2008 totalled 1.324 billion Yuan.

6. Science, Technology and Education In 2008, the education boasts consistent development. Free and compulsory education has covered both urban and rural areas; the rural education funds have been guaranteed and improved. 730 qualified schools for compulsory schooling were built. The enrollment in kindergarten numbered 1,059,500, up by 13.0% compared with 2007. The enrollment rate of the primary-school-age and middle-school-age children were 99.77% and 99.54% respectively. A new college was approved and there are altogether 100 higher education institutes in Hunan. There are 5533 private institutions of education, up by 15.9%, with 1,441,500 students, up by 7.9%, among which, there are 13 colleges with 85,900 students and 15 independent schools with 94,800 students.

Scientific and technological innovation capability has been enhanced. In 2008, there were 84 projects listed in the National “863” Program, 31 exemplar projects for hi-tech industrialization. There were 8 state-level engineering research centers, 6 state-level key labs among which 2 were approved this year and 16 state-appointed enterprise technology centers. The technological fruits of various kinds added up to 990, 19 of which were awarded the National Scientific Progress Prize and 2 awarded the National Technological Innovation Prize. 5 fruits, presented by key technology research and application of nitrogen and phosphorus metabolism Regulation in livestock and poultry feed preparation, were granted the second-class National Scientific Progress Prize. The biological leaching sulfide ore project based on gene function and microbial community structure analysis was granted the second-class National Technological Innovation Prize. 5,514 technical contracts were signed and the contracted value was worth 4.782 billion Yuan, up 3.8% compared with 2007. The increased value of the high-tech industry in Hunan was worth RMB 109.8847 billion Yuan, increasing by 30.7%.

Accelerated development is obtained in intellectual property. In 2008, the patent application amounted to 14,016 with a growth rate of 24.8%, among which 6133 were approved with a growth rate of 7.8%. The patents of invention were 5,335 and the patents of business were 6,098, accounting for 38.1% and 43.5% respectively. The patents applied by the institutions of higher learning, the institutions of scientific research and enterprises rose by 53.5%、 36.4%、49.7%respectively. The patent application and approval ranked the 10th in the country. Changsha and Xiangtan were designated by the state government as exemplar cites for intellectual property.

Xiangtan City was designated as the national patent technology (electrical) industrialization pilot base. Xiangtan Intellectual Property Administration was listed in the first state-level group which experiments with intellectual property used as security financing. 37 projects worth RMB 339 million Yuan were signed in the 2nd National Patent Week. In the 6th International Invention Fair, 2 projects were granted golden prizes, 8 silver prizes and 8 bronze prizes.

The comprehensive technical service is increasingly regulated. By the end of 2008, there were1189 quality inspection labs, among which 6 were state-level ones and 1 was newly approved. There have been 229 regular metrological verification institutions and 96 special equipment inspection labs. Food quality check was carried out 39,000 times and industrial product check 41,500 times. The passing rate in periodic checks on industrial products was 91.7%, up by 3.63% compared with the previous year. 123 kinds of maps and 33 kinds of mapping books were published by the survey and mapping departments in the province which have managed to provide 10,159 topographic maps of different scales, 2737 land photos and 445 aerial pictures for economic and social development. There have been 7 radar weather-forecast stations. Hydrological and seismological services are further development.

7. Culture, Public Health and Sports In 2008, the cultural industry has achieved steady progress. 4686 kinds of books with volume of 362 million as well as 85 kinds of newspapers and 237 kinds of periodicals with volume of 93 million were published in the province. The sales revenue and total profit in the press and publication industry amounted to RMB 16.8 billion and 1.7 billion, up by 1.0% and 1.5% respectively. The annual production of original cartoon films lasted for 26,500 minutes and topped the country consecutively for 4 years. The 3rd National Mobile Phone Animation Contest was launched in Hunan. “Weituo Information” was listed and became the first animation stock in the country.

The cultural industry has achieved thriving progress. By the end of 2008, there were 93 artistic performance groups, 140 cultural centers, 69 museums and memorial halls and 120 public libraries. People can now visit the provincial museum and other 13 ones free of charge. Films were shown in rural areas for 537,800 rounds. The native drama Advance into the Sunshine was listed in the national excellent dramas, "wheelbarrow" was granted a golden prize in the 7th national acrobatics competition and the modern opera “Zhiying” was awarded the second-class prize in the 5th National Peking Opera Art Festival. There were 11 radio stations with a population coverage rate of 91.1%, 2.1% higher than that in 2007; 15 TV stations with a rate of 95.7%, 1.0 higher. The cable TV users were 5, 439,300, among which 338,100 were newly recruited. The public health has acquired further development. By the end of 2008, together with 24 new ones, there were altogether 4325 medical and public health organizations, including 3180 hospitals and clinics, 139 health care stations and units for women and children, 87 hospitals for special diseases. A total of 409 clinics were built or rebuilt in towns and townships. There were altogether 171,000 sickbeds, 5.6% up; 217,900 medical technicians, 7.5% up. Among them, 87,000 were registered doctors and assistant doctors, 5.7% up and 64,200 were registered nurses, 3.4% up. The health service in communities quickens. The community-centered health care system with the street office as the administrative unit has formed.

The sport industry achieved prosperous progress. The sportsmen in Hunan achieved 3 golden medals in Beijing Olympic Games; 2 golden medals, 1 silver medals and 1 bronze medal in Beijing Paralympics’ Games; 5 world champions, 4 Asia-level champions, and 39 state-level champions. There were 21,302 sport fields, including 142 stadiums, 656 sport grounds, and 20,352 gymnasiums. The physical exercise project was launched in 882 villages.

8. Resources and Environment Protection A balance between occupation and cultivation is achieved for the arable land. In 2008, the land approved for construction totalled 21,600 hectares, the arable land used for construction 5,966.67 hectares, and the returned farming land 6,540 hectares. Therefore, a balance between occupation and cultivation has been achieved consecutively for 9 years. Land of 257 hectares was dealt with in 513 cases in the state-owned enterprises restructuring, and land of 4870 hectares was treated in 8262 cases in transfer of state-owned land use rights. The requirement of land for the sake of infrastructure, livelihood, industrial park construction and transfer of industries was warranted. A total of 5 counties have become the national model districts for basic farmland protection. The farmland remains basically 3.36 million hectares.

New results have been obtained in the mineral exploration and the geological disaster prevention. 120 kinds of minerals have been found, among which 83 were made clear in terms of reserves. New prospecting fruits have been obtained, including 625 geological inspection projects and 16 alternative resource prospecting projects. 69 geological disasters were avoided; as a result, casualties of 1,665 persons and property loss of RMB 32.01 million were curbed. The casualty toll was minimized in the past 10 years. Environmental restoration was carried out in 86 mines.

The ecological environment obtained further improvement. 126 small thermal power units with a generating capacity of 848,000 kw were closed, as well as 583 small & medium-sized paper-making factories and the cement factories with production capacity of 6 million ton. Covering 1377 projects, a 3-year program was launched to control water pollution in Xiangjiang River Basin. The urban waste water treatment rate was 52.0%, increasing by 5.7%; the urban garbage decontamination rate was 59.5%, increasing by 6.8%. The air quality in 10 cities has reached Class Two Level, 3 more than in the previous year. The cross section proportion of the surface water which meets Standard III has been 86.5%, increasing by 4.2%. The cross section proportion of Xiangjiang River Basin which meets Standard III has been 87.5%, increasing by 5%. The 10 cross sections in Dongting Lake belong to Standard II and III. The average concentration of sulfur dioxide has declined 4%. 36 model ecological zones at the state level have been approved. The artificial forest area in 2008 was 64,000 hectares. Farmland of 715,000 mu was returned for forest. The forestation coverage rate was 55.86%.

9. Living Standard and Social Security of the People Income of the residents increased fast. In 2008, the disposable income of the urban dwellers per capita hit 13,821.54 Yuan, increasing by 12.4%, and actually increasing by 6.3 % if the price element was deduced. The income per capita was 8,418 Yuan, up by 5.6%; the net income of business was 1,575.10 Yuan, up by 61.5%; the transferred income was 3,511 Yuan, up by 18.8%, and the property income was 316.50 Yuan, down by 18.5%. The net income of the rural dwellers was 4,512.50 Yuan, increasing by 15.6%, actually increasing by 8% if the price element was deduced. Among the income, the wage per capita was 1,999.50 Yuan, increasing by 16.3%; the household operation income was 2,196.60 Yuan, increasing by 11.9%; the income from transfer and property was 325.30 Yuan, increasing by 42.7%.

The living standard has progressively risen. The consumption expenses per capita of the urban dwellers were 9,945.50 Yuan, increasing by 10.6%. The expenses on the household facilities, clothes and food rose by 11.9%、7.2% and 22.4% respectively. The consumption expenses per capita of the rural dwellers were 3,805 Yuan, 427.62 Yuan more than the previous year, increasing by 12.7%. The expenses on food, clothes and house rose by 16.3%、4.5% and 23.9% respectively. The Engel Coefficient of the urban dwellers rose to 39.9% and that of the rural dwellers to 51.2%. The accommodation area per capita of urban dwellers was 29.30 m2, 3.2% up and, of rural dwellers, 40.70 m2, 1.4% up The social security has achieved further progress. There were 1,850,000 retirees who bought the basic endowment insurance, 2.6% higher than that in 2007; 3,901,000 people who bought the unemployment insurance,0.3% higher; 6,819,500 people who bought the medical insurance,9.9% higher; and 190,000 people who drew unemployment insurance money, down by 9.9%. The number of urban residents whose minimum living cost was guaranteed by the Government was 1,390,000 and the amount of that living cost added up to RMB 2.168 billion Yuan. A total of 1.42 million people, in both urban and rural areas, received medical help. As many as 2.95 billion refugees were transferred to safe places when they were hit by disasters and 253,000 rooms were built to accommodate them.