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Places in China: Hunan Province

Hunan Province is the eleventh largest province in China. As an inland province, its good transportation services are important in order to get products into and out of Hunan's cities. Each of the fourteen cities and autonomous prefectures as well as most of the counties in the province have good rail service.

The Yantze River enables commerce to reach the two major ports in Chenglingji since this river is a major waterway within the province. Highways which run through parts of Hunan include four national highways going from north to south and three running east and west. Also, there are seventy provincial highways in the province.

One-third of the more than sixty-six million residents of Hunan are urban residents with the other two-thirds being rural people. Thus, the labour force which is available is significant. More than ten percent of the people of the province have some degree of higher education, making for a more knowledgeable labour pool. Unemployment in the province in 2002 was at around four percent.

Such industries as metallurgy, machinery, electronics, food, energy and building materials are rather strong in Hunan. Being a somewhat rural province, revenue from agricultural output was up four percent in 2002. Agricultural income is largely from forestry, stockbreeding and fishing. About eighteen and one-half percent of Hunan's land is used for farming.

Hunan Province has a complete water system since the Dongting Lake in the northern section of the province is China's second largest freshwater lake. The Xiangjiang River, Zishui River, Yuanjiang River, Lishui River and the Yantze River all bring additional water into the province.

One of the titles given to Hunan is 'home of nonferrous metals'. Among the major nonferrous metals found in the province are stibium, tungsten, lead, zinc, bismuth and monazite. Other minerals in the province include coal, dolomite, phosphorite, pyrite, limestone and silica.

The province is beginning to encourage tourism as an additional revenue source since there are so many cultural and historical areas in its borders as well as many scenic areas such as national forests.

In 1998, the People's High Court of Hunan Province came up with regulations to protect the rights of foreign investors in the province. This is evidence that foreign investment within the province is encouraged.