Harbin

Background

Geographic Background

Harbin locates in the center of Northeast Asia, Harbin is called the bright pearl on the Bridge of Eurasia Land, and it is also an important hub of Eurasia Land Bridge and air corridor. All the rivers within the area of Harbin belong to Songhua river system and Mudan river system, and the rainfall mainly concentrates between June and September, with the average annual precipitation of 569.1mm. Named "Ice City", Harbin has medium-temperate continental monsoon climate, with long winter and short summer. 63 kinds of minerals have been found, and the reserves of 25 kinds of minerals have been verified within the whole city, including 1 energy mineral, 10 metal minerals, and 14 non-metal minerals. There are totally 12 natural reserves in the city, including 4 natural reserves at the provincial level, covering an area of 119400 hectares. 50 kinds of wild animals are listed as first and second class protection species, and 7 kinds of plants are listed as first and second class protection species.

During the period of the tenth "five-year" plan, the agriculture and rural economy of Harbin will focus on strengthening the basic role of agriculture, increasing the income of peasants and adjusting the agricultural structure. Efforts will be made to improve the traditional agricultural production structure, keep corns production stable and enhance animal agriculture, and mainly develop quality and profit–oriented agriculture with green agriculture as the focus. Efforts will be made to insist on promoting agriculture by applying scientific and technological achievements, popularize advanced and practical technologies, carry out the project of good kinds, and set up a modern agricultural sci-tech district and science and technology experiment base. Efforts will be made to promote actively the agricultural comprehensive development, set up 14 industrial chains for green food bases, accelerate the course of agricultural industrialization, and promote the whole development of agricultural economy.

In 2008, the comprehensive economic power increased significantly. According to the original estimate, the total annual value of the local production can realize 28.682 billion yuan, up by 13.2 percent over the previous year according to comparable prices. Among them, the added value of the primary industry was 39.02 billion yuan, up by 6.9 percent; the added value of the secondary industry was 107.76 billion yuan, up by 14.5 percent; the added value of the tertiary industry was 140.04 billion yuan, up by 13.9 percent. The contribution rates of the three industries to the economic growth are respectively 7.5%, 40.7% and 51.8%. The industrial structure was adjusted from 14.3:37.0:48.7 in the previous year to 13.6:37.6:48.8. The per capita GDP was 29,012 Yuan, up by 12.6% over the previous year.

Harbin will develop a number of large and strong companies and high-end service outsourcing professionals. It is also going to develop a large service outsourcing industry park, a service outsourcing training center, and a common software testing platform for service outsourcing companies, so that an industrial cluster with a solid foundation dominated by the service outsourcing industry park and local characteristics can be created, and finally the overall capacity of service outsourcing companies can be significantly improved. Harbin will also scale up effort to develop a large number of high-end professionals to gradually turn the service outsourcing industry into a powerhouse for economy.

Harbin Government places high premium on development of service outsourcing and has set up a steering committee for service outsourcing chaired by a deputy mayor. Besides, Harbin has formulated Preferential Policies on Promoting Development of Service Outsourcing and set up a fund for this purpose. The Plan for Harbin Service Outsourcing Development and Harbin Plan for Service Outsourcing Training have been incorporated into the Harbin's 11th Five-year Plan for social and economic development.