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| Introduction |
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Wuxi is located in the south-east of Jiangsu Province in the Yangtze River Delta. Bordering the Taihu Lake, Wuxi neighbors Changzhou to the west, and Suzhou to the east. It is 128 km from Shanghai to the east, and 130 km from Nanjing to the west. It takes a mere two hours to travel from Wuxi to Shanghai, and one-and-a-half hours to Nanjing by way of the Nanjing-Shanghai Railway. The Beijing-Shanghai Railway just passes through the city.
The Beijing-Shanghai Highway, the Tongjiang-Sanya Highway and the Shanghai-Chengdu Highway all intersect in the city of Wuxi, while the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, the Zhejiang-Shanghai-Jiangsu Expressway, the No. 312 National Highway and the No. 104 National Highway run directly across the city. China's largest port, Shanghai Port, is just 165 km away; Jiangyin Port, however, is even closer at a mere 38 km away. The Wuxi Airport, situated a distance of 14 km from the city center, offers daily flights to Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and other major cities. The Shanghai Pudong International Airport, the Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and the Nanjing Lukou Airport are all within two-hours’ drive from Wuxi.
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| Economic Features |
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In 2010, the GDP of Wuxi grew 13.1% from the previous year to RMB 575.8 billion, ranking second after Suzhou in Jiangsu. It formed with Suzhou and Changzhou the "Su-Xi-Chang Area", the most advanced region in Jiangsu.
Private enterprises are major contributor to the city's economic growth. In 2010, value added output of private enterprises amounted to RMB 363 billion, up 14.2% year on year, accounting for 63.1% of the city's total. About 1.89 million employees work with private enterprises by the end of 2009.
The city of Wuxi is dominated by heavy industries. In 2010, the added value from heavy industries amounted to RMB 229.7 billion, accounting for more than 75.5% of the total from the industry sector. The major heavy industries in Wuxi include machinery, metallurgy, and the petrochemical industries. Major light industries consist of electronics and textiles.
In 2008, Wuxi has won approval from China's National Development and Reformation Commission to be the state-level micro-electronic high-tech industrial base, and will be the second-largest one after the base located in Shanghai.
Tourism plays an important role in the city's service sector. Attracted by the varied natural scenery and cultural relics in Wuxi, over 51 million tourists visited the city in 2010. The tourism revenue amounted to RMB 74.87 billion, up 23.1% year on year, accounting for nearly 15% of Jiangsu's total tourism revenue.
The foreign-trade value in Wuxi has increased by 39.3% year-on-year to US$61.2 billion, while the export value up 39.5% to US$36.27 billion.
Wuxi attracted contractual foreign investment of US$4.75 billion in 2010. The utilized FDI in the city was US$3.3 billion. There are 75 Fortune 500 enterprises set up in Wuxi by the end of 2009.
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| Cultural Highlights |
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Legend tells us that Wuxi was a mining town in ancient times. Its name means "no tins" in Chinese, as it had exhausted its tin deposits at this time. Wuxi’s history stretches back over three-thousand years. In the Zhou Dynasty (1100-221BC), Taibo moved into Meili (currently known as Mei County in Wuxi) and set up "Gou Wu" there, making Wuxi the birthplace for Wu Culture. After the completion of the Grand Canal, Wuxi was one of richest cities in East China.
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| Tourist Attraction |
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Wuxi is one of China's most famous tourist destinations. Taihu Lake, the third-largest fresh-water lake in China, is the most popular and important tourist attraction in Wuxi; the Li Garden and the Plum Garden around the Taihu Lake are highly appreciated by the tourists. Other popular tourist destinations are the Three Kingdom City and the Sea of Bamboo, both of which are also quite famous. Iced fish, shrimp and crab are local specialties in Wuxi. The "three-fresh" wonton (Sanxian huntun), dumplings (Xiaolong bao), square cakes (Fang gao), sugary taro (Tang yutou), glutinous rice dumplings (Tangyuan) and turnip slice paste patties (Luobosi bing) are also very popular.
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| Major Development Zones |
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There are 3 state-level development zones in Wuxi, namely Wuxi New District, Wuxi Export Processing Zone and Wuxi Taihu National Vocation and Holiday Tourist Resort.
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Name
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Area (km²)
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Pillar Industries
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GDP in 2010
(RMB billion)
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| Wuxi New District |
9.45
(area of Wuxi High-tech Industrial Development Zone)
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electronics, information technology, optical-mechanical-electronic integration, new energy, materials, energy conservation |
70.8 (2008)
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| Wuxi Export Processing Zone |
2.98
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information technology, optical-mechanical-electronic integration, precision machinery, new materials |
N.A.
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| Wuxi Taihu National Vocation and Holiday Tourist Resort |
13.5
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Tourism
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N.A.
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Source: National Development and Reform Commission |
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| Honors |
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Historical and Cultural City (2007)
-State Council of P.R. China
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