Zhaoqing is located in the central and western part of the province. It is a famous historical city and was listed in the first group of National Model Tourist City. It was awarded as the National Garden City, National Model City of Public Health and Sanitaion and Guangdong Provincial Model City of Culture. It is a newly developed industrial city in the west wing of the Pearl River Delta Region. It currently has the jurisdictions over eight counties, which are Duanzhou, Dinghu, Gaoyao, Sihui, Guangning, Deqing, Fengkai and Huaiji. The Zhaoqing High-tech Industrial Park is also located within the city. The southeastern part of the city belongs to the Pearl Delta Region, while its northeastern part is adjacent to Qingyuan and its northwestern to Guangxi Province. It is neighboring Fushan and Jiangmen. The total area of the city reaches 14,856 square kilometers taking up 8.31% of the whole provincial area. The population is 3.9265 million persons.

 

The city’s economy kept growing fast with the optimized industrial structure. According to statistics, in 2004, the total GDP created reached 54.851 billion RMB with a growth by 13.2%. The total added value by primary industries reached 15.104 billion RMB with a growth by 5.7%. The total added value by secondary industries reached 19.551 billion RMB with a growth by 18.6%, while the total added value created by tertiary industries reached 20.196 billion RMB with a growth by 19.0% compared to the previous year.

 

The price level was raised modestly. The annual resident consumption price level was only raised by 3.1%. The price for food was increased by 9.0%, the prices of tobacco and alcohol were increased by 3.2%, and the price of clothing and garments was raised by 3.1%. The price of home appliance was decreased by 5.0%. The price of medical care and personal goods was raised by 0.1%. The price of transportation and telecommunication was dropped by 1.7%. The price for residential and related cost was raised by 2.9%. The general ex-factory price of products was raised by 2.2%

 

The city’s employment situation was also satisfying. At the end of the year, the total number of employees reached 2.1420 million persons with a growth of 74,200 persons. The total number of employees in the secondary and tertiary industries reached 1.1962 million persons with a growth of 68,500 persons. The registered unemployed persons reached 11,400 persons. The registered unemployment rate was 2.8%.

 

The major problems and difficulties during the social and economic growth were as follows: the total economic capacity was still small. The economic speed was still lack behind the provincial average level. The industries structure was still in need of being optimized. The proportion of pillar industries of the economy was not significant enough. The county-level and private sectors should have contributed more to the city’s economy. There still lack of major projects to promote the overall development. The problems of farmers and their incomes still bothered the city’s growth. The pressure on social welfare and unemployment was still high. Low income families still had very difficult life.