Business environment

Economy

The Inner Mongolia autonomous region has achieved steady economic development. Six key industries –– energy, metallurgy and construction materials, agricultural and livestock products, chemicals, equipment and high technology –– are playing a vital role in this development. 

The autonomous region's gross domestic product (GDP) totaled 1.86 trillian yuan ($270.73 billion) in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 7.2 percent. The added value of Inner Mongolia's primary industries totaled 162.87 billion yuan in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 3 percent. The value added output of the secondary industry was 907.89 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.9 percent, and the tertiary industry up by 8.3 percent to 792.51 billion yuan.

In the agricultural sector, the total farmland in the region reached 7.95 million hectares, an increase of 5 percent from the previous year, with grain output at 27.8 million tons, a decrease of 1.7 percent. As to animal husbandry, the region had 135.98 million head of livestock, with meat production output reaching 2.59 million tons; milk, 7.34 million tons; and eggs, 580,000 tons. 

The industrial added value reached 775.82 billion yuan, an increase of 7 percent from the previous year, of which industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 7.2 percent. 

The autonomous region's investment on fixed assets reached 1.55 trillion yuan in 2016, an increase of 11.9 percent from the previous year. Investment on the primary industry reached 77.63 billion yuan, an increase of 11.6 percent; the secondary industry received 649.58 billion yuan, a decrease of 1.2 percent; and the tertiary industry received 819.74 billion yuan with an increase of 25.1 percent. 

The import and export volume totaled 77.28 billion yuan ($11.23 billion. Out of that, the export volume accounted for 29.53 billion yuan, while the import volume reached 47.75 billion yuan. A total of 50 foreign-invested enterprises were newly approved in 2016.

Advantages

As a window of opening-up in North China, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region plays an important role in the country’s Belt and Road Initiative. It links eight provinces and cities in China and borders Russia and Mongolia, with an area of 460,000 square miles, comprising 12.3 percent of China’s total land surface. 

Manzhouli, the biggest land port to Russia, is a key State experimental zone for economic development and opening up. Another key State development zone is the triangular area of Hohhot-Baotou-Ordos, which covers 114,000 square kilometers.

In addition, there are another 17 ports open to foreign countries and regions, contributing to 65 percent of Sino-Russian land transportation and 95 percent of Sino Mongolian cargo transportation.

The region also has five international airports –– Ordos, Ereenhot, Hohhot, Hulunbuir, and Manzhouli –– which, when combined with its border ports, resources, and markets, make Inner Mongolia a unique, advantageous site for such industries as international logistics, trade, the import-export business and border tourism. 

Western Inner Mongolia has one of the lowest electricity prices throughout the country. In Hohhot, capital of the region, general industrial and commercial enterprises only pay 0.63 yuan per kilowatt.

The region’s reserves of 17 mineral resources, including coal, rare earths, lead and silver, are also the largest in China.

To encourage development, the local government has released preferential policies concerning tax, land usage, industrial development and finance. It offers a 15 percent tax discount to companies in supported and promoted industries.

It also encourages enterprises to participate in international engineering projects. Foreign labor service platforms have been constructed to link training schemes for contract workers at higher educational institutes and vocational technical schools. The region’s legal and operational environments have been optimized to enhance multinational labor cooperation.