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China's inland province of Shaanxi is known all over the world for its brilliant history and culture. Recently, it has again caught the attention of China because of its development. Shaanxi is home to the terra-cotta warriors and horses of the Qin Dynasty, often called the Eighth Wonder of the World. Shaanxi also gave birth to many firsts in New China, including the first airplane, the first integrated circuit (IC), the first carrier rocket, and the first color cathode-ray tube, as well as many firsts in the world. Perhaps for these reasons, heads of the state and high officials of more than ten foreign countries have visited the province, including Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, and Ohira Masayoshi.
Shaanxi is an important birthplace of the Chinese nation and its culture. The primitive Lantian Man lived here 1.1 million years ago. The 1953 discovery of the ruins of the Banpo Village in eastern Xi'an sheds light on the social development and civilization of the matrilineal society 6,000 years ago. Huangling County in northern Shaanxi Province is the site of the Mausoleum of Huang Di (the Yellow Emperor), who has become the symbol of the Chinese nation.
Shaanxi was the capital of 13 dynasties over a period of 1,180 years. In ancient times, Shaanxi belonged to the state of Qin and is still sometimes known as Qin. Shaanxi was China's political, economic, and cultural center from the slave society of the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century B.C.) to the thriving feudal society of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
After the opening of the Silk Road, starting from Xi'an, in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.), Shaanxi became China's window opening on the outside world, and the capital, Xi'an, became a well-known center of international trade.
Shaanxi is a gateway to northwest China. It links the west with the east and the north with the south. Since China implemented the reform and opening policies, Shaanxi has been watching its own economy take off and has become the most developed province in the region. In 1999 the gross domestic product of Shaanxi increased by 8.4 percent over the previous year, and the province has achieved a higher development rate than the national average for four years running. With the push to develop China's western regions, Shaanxi will play a special role.
Shaanxi has many advantages for development, some still waiting to be tapped, including tourism resources, culture, education, and scientific and technological strength. The overall economic level of the province, however, remains relatively low. Owing to Shaanxi's huge population, the per capita GDP is only 3,834 yuan, lower than that of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and higher only than that of Guizhou and Gansu provinces and the Tibet Autonomous Region.
In ancient times, Shaanxi was endowed with lush grass and dense forest and was known as Nature's Storehouse and the Green Sea on Land, but over the course of many dynasties the beautiful land was gradually destroyed and replaced by the Loess Plateau and crisscrossed by gullies because of severe deforestation, war, and soil erosion. The Yan'an and Yulin areas north of Fuxian County are the areas most affected by the erosion on the upper reaches of the Yellow River. This section of the Yellow River brings down more than 100 million tons of silt per year.
For this reason, the project of Beautifying Mountains and Rivers of Shaanxi has been launched in the northern part of the province. The project focuses on the ecological environment, especially soil erosion. The application of the project varies with different local conditions and covers the sandstorm-hit areas along the Great Wall, the Loess Plateau, the gullies in northern Shaanxi and areas north of the Weihe River, the Central Shaanxi Plain, and the Qinling and Daba mountainous areas. It is expected that after several decades of effort, Shaanxi will become a land of green mountains, clean water, blue sky, and wealthy people and thus achieve sustainable economic and social development.
Shaanxi now has a transportation network of railways, highways, and air routes. In the wave of development, Shaanxi's infrastructural construction, with the focus on highways, will grow rapidly. Meanwhile, the construction of small towns is underway in the province along with the development of counties, resource-rich areas, areas brisk with industrial and commercial activities, and transport-convenient areas.
Shaanxi is rich in minerals and other natural resources. Northern Shaanxi is called China's Kuwait because of its abundant energy reserves. Shaanxi will accelerate the exploitation of 12 resources including coal, oil, gas, molybdenum, gold, and hydraulic limestone. While upgrading the exploitation of coal and natural gas, northern Shaanxi will develop power-generation stations and a related chemical industry. The mine development zones for gold, molybdenum, lead, and zinc in the Qinling and Daba mountains will be reconstructed and expanded to provide sufficient resources for mining enterprises. In addition, new mines will be established.
Shaanxi will establish its industrial sectors in line with local conditions and market needs: hi-tech; electronics; information science; integration of optics, machinery, and electronics; bio-technology; and new medicine as well as high-efficiency agriculture. The province will establish a group of hi-tech enterprises and potential leading industries. As for tourism, the province will establish four scenic areas showing the ancient cultures of the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties and develop the major historical sites.
Shaanxi has four local treasures: apples, pears, dates, and kiwi fruit. Shaanxi will strive to become a world-famous apple producer and the leading apple-producer in China.
Shaanxi is China's No.1 military-industry province and is upgrading such fields as satellite applications, space-resource exploitation, aviation technology, nuclear utilization for peaceful purposes, and disaster control and prevention. The province aims to create an excellent environment for the development of science and of technological industries for national defense by promoting the industrialization of hi-tech achievements and accelerating the construction of space and aviation industrial parks in Xi'an and other places.
