Picturesque Landscape, Thriving by the Yangtze River
Hubei is indispensable to water.
The Yangtze River, the world’s third longest river, is the mother river of Chinese nation and an important cradle of the Chinese civilization. Right at the middle reaches of the river, Hubei is the only province with 1000-plus kilometers of the Yangtze. Leveraging its water resources, Hubei has built the world’s largest hydro-power project--the Three Gorges Dam and is the place where the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project starts, sending clean water to over 60 million people in Beijing and other 20 cities.
Embedded in the hinterland, Hubei has an area of 185,900 square kilometers and a population of 61 million. It is crowned as a ‘province with a thousand lakes’ for having 755 lakes and 4230 5-kilometre-plus rivers. Mountains are dotted in east, west and north, among which Wudang Mountain, Dahong Mountain and Dabie Mountain are of great renown. Green Treasure Shennongjia Forestry is the sole and only primitive forest in Central China.
Inland of China, Gateway to the World
As an important link of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Belt and Road, Hubei is the largest comprehensive transportation hub in central China. Major north-to-south and east-to-west transportation arteries come across at here. Its multi-modal transport fuels interactions with the rest of the world.
For instance, Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, Beijing-Kowloon Railway, Fuzhou-Yinchuan Expressway, Daqing-Guangzhou Expressway, Shanghai-Chongqing Highway and Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway intersect in Hubei. Within one-hour ride of high-speed train, you could reach all 8 cities of Wuhan city cluster. With 2-3 hours, you could visit capitals of neighboring provinces. And a four-hour ride can take you to China’s 70% cities, including metropolises like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Hubei can reach over 60 cities of 28 countries and regions in Europe, Central and Western Asia through 17 China-Europe freight train routes. Yangtze River and Han River serve as primary cargo distribution channels. Through this ‘Golden Waterway’, shipping route stretches to the Pacific Ocean to the east. Hubei has an air transport network, comprising of airports in Wuhan, Shiyan, Shennongjia, Xiangyang, Yichang and Enshi. With 69 international and regional air routes to four major continents, passenger and cargo could fly non-stop.
Rich Culture, A Pool of Talents
Hubei is where China’s fine traditional culture has passed on. It was the birthplace of Emperor Yan, one of the two ancestors of Chinese people, and the cradle of Chu culture. Additionally, it bore witness to many famous events in Spring and Autumn Period (770-475 BC), Warring States Period (476-221 BC) and Three Kingdoms Period (220-280AD). Four sites have been listed in UNESCO World Heritage catalogue, namely Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains, Tangya Tusi Domain, Shennongjia Forest District and Xianling Tombs of the Ming Dynasty.
Hubei has 55 ethnic minorities and is among 8 provinces in China that set up ethnic autonomous prefecture, autonomous counties and ethnic villages. The majority of the ethnic groups live in autonomous areas in southwest of Hubei and cities like Wuhan and Jingzhou.
Hubei is home to great minds of generations, such as patriotic poet Quyuan, Lu Yu, saint of tea, Bi Sheng, the inventor of movable printing and Li Shizhen, the saint of herbs. It has 128 colleges and universities with over 1.5 million students receiving regular higher education. 2 universities are listed in 985 Program and 7 in 211 Program. 19 national engineering research centers and 2300 plus R&D organizations are situated in here.
Industry Cluster, Good Choice for Investment
Large agricultural province. Hubei is a major national production base for grain, cotton and oil. Its output of freshwater products ranks top in China for over 20 years. Back in 2019, the annual output of grain, rapeseed and freshwater products were respectively 27.24 million, 2.11 million and 4.69 million tons.
Industrial powerhouse. Hubei is the cradle of China's modern industries. Apart from traditional industries like automotive, iron and steel, petrochemical, food, machinery and construction materials, it also engages in developing advanced manufacturing like electronic information, high-end equipment, new material, ship building and marine engineering and resources recycling. There are 17 industries whose output value exceeds over 100 billion yuan.
Province of smart manufacturing. Hubei ranks high in high-tech industry across China. By 2019, it has 12 national high-tech zones and 6590 high-tech companies. Four national industry bases respectively for data storage, aerospace, cyber security professional training and innovation and new energy and intelligently-connected vehicles are settled in Hubei. Emerging industries like cloud computing, big data, integrated circuit and display screens maintain good momentum. It boasts the world’s largest R&D and manufacturing base for optical communication. Hubei bridge companies have designed and built nearly 200 grand bridges for over 30 countries around the world. And the world’s highest-standard high-speed rail is designed here.
Green Development, Suitable for Living and Business
Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. Hubei is resolute in giving priority to ecological protection and green development and transferring green resources to invaluable assets. The water quality of the Yangtze River Hubei section remains at a high level. It’s also China’s largest market for carbon emission trading. World-class green East Lake Greenway and ecological corridors along the reaches of the Yangtze River and Han River have demonstrated its commitment to Beautiful Hubei Initiative.
Chu cuisine champions a healthy lifestyle. It takes in features of other cuisines and pick ingredients in pace with seasons and waters. Dishes like Wuchang Fish, Hot-Dry Noodles with Sesame Paste, Jingzhou Fish Cake, Yichang Tangerine, Honghu Lotus and Qianjiang Crawfish are popular around China.
By 2019, Hubei has 35432 health care and medical institutions, of which are 1028 hospitals, 33856 institutions at community level and 484 public health institutions. Among 526,000 health care personnel, 154,000 are licensed doctors or assistant doctors and 194,000 registered nurses.
Openness and Cooperation, Embracing the World
So far France, the Republic of Korea, USA and the UK have set up Consulate Generals in Hubei and Russia has already expressed its intention to establish one, the total number higher than other regions in central China. Hubei played host to a number of international business and sports events like CISM Military Games, World Fly-in Expo, Wuhan Marathon, Forum on Global Production Capacity and Business Cooperation and Conference on Overseas Chinese Pioneering and Developing in China, its publicity and fame remarkably lifted.
Besides, platforms for opening-up, for instance, China (Hubei) Pilot Free Trade Zone, China (Wuhan) Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Area, 15designated ports for import goods, 5 national open ports, 5 bonded logistic centers and 3 special customs supervision areas are in operation. 310 Fortune 500 have made their business presence. Hubei ranks first in central China in the number of Fortune 500, foreign trade in service, overseas contracted projects and inbound and outbound visits by air.
