Overview
Henan, lying on the middle-lower reaches of the Yellow River, covers a total area of 167,000 square kilometers. It borders Anhui Province and Shandong Province in the east, Hebei Province and Shanxi Province in the north, Shaanxi province in the west and Hubei Province in the south. It has 18 cities under its direct jurisdiction, with Zhengzhou as its capital. As one of the earliest developed regions in the country, it was a political, cultural and business hub in ancient China.
Henan is influenced by the continental monsoon climate and has four distinct seasons. It is rainy and hot in summer, cold and dry in winter and windy in spring. The province has a mean annual temperature of 10.5-16.7℃ increasing from north to south, an annual frost-free period of 6-8 months, and a mean annual precipitation of 407.7-1295.8 mm, also increasing from north to south.
In 2018, the province recorded a GDP of 4.8 trillion yuan ($700 billion), an increase of 7.6 percent year-on-year, 1 percentage point higher than that of the whole country, with its GDP ranking fifth in China and first in Midwest China. Among these, the added value of the primary industry sector was 429 billion yuan, increasing by 3.3 percent year-on-year; the added value of the secondary industry sector was 2.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.2 percent; and the tertiary industry sector climbed 2.17 trillion yuan, up 9.2 percent year-on-year. The primary, secondary and tertiary industries account for 8.9 percent, 45.9 percent and 45.2 percent of GDP respectively.
The agriculture sector continued to expand, as total grain output in 2018 reached 133 billion kilograms, accounting for 33.33 percent of the country's total, a new height in Henan's economic history.
The added value of industries above a designated scale saw an increase of 7.2 percent, 1 percentage point higher than that of the whole country, and the added value of the service industry reached 2.17 trillion yuan, the highest in Central China. In 2018, the total investment in fixed assets (excluding farmers) grew by 8.1 percent, 2.2 percentage points higher than that of the whole country.
Enterprises in the province have performed well over recent years. The profits of industrial enterprises above a designated scale witnessed an increase of 24.5 percent in 2018. The general financial revenue hit 587.58 billion yuan, and the local general public budget revenue reached 376.39 billion yuan, up 10.5 percent, while the province's per capita GDP was 50,152 yuan, an increase of 7.2 percent year-on-year.
Advantages
Henan's economic volume has ranked first among those of the provinces and regions in the central and western region and among the top five in China for consecutive years. As an economic heavyweight with many advantages, it is a good destination for foreign investors.
Superior geographical location and transportation
Located at the intersection of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, Henan links industrial transfer from the east region, resource output from the west region and trade exchanges between the north and south regions. Capitalizing on its geographical advantages, the province is currently accelerating the high-speed railway network and forming an air transportation hub with the capital Zhengzhou as the center. Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airporthas been approved as the only international express supervision center in Central China and the first airport to conduct a bonded aviation fuel business.
Abundant natural resources
Henan is blessed with a wealth of natural resources. This central province embraces diverse landforms like plains, basins and hills, which provides good conditions for integrated growth in agriculture, forestry, husbandry and fisheries. Henan is also rich in mineral reserves. By the end of 2017, a total of 144 kinds of minerals had been found in the province. Its reserves of coal, petrol and natural gas lead the country, constituting a solid foundation for industrial development.
Huge market potential
By the end 2018, the population of Henan province had reached 109 million. With that base and its huge economic volume, Henan has seen growing consumer demands and broad investment space. The rising city cluster of Zhengzhou, Luoyang and Kaifeng also improves resource allocation, market integration, talent utilization and mutual cooperation, bringing significant vitality to the province and Central China.