Economy

GDP and economic dataStatistically, Jixi's GDP reached RMB 41.95 billion in 2010, representing a steady growth of 16.1% from a year earlier, ranked seventh among the 13 prefectures and prefecture-level cities in the province. In 2010, value-added industrial output generated by enterprises with designated size or above rose 42.6% to RMB 9.51 billion. In 2010, the foreign trade value of Jixi totaled US$710.01 million, up 41.7% year on year. Russia is the largest export destination.Economic FeaturesThe most important pillar industry in Jixi is coal mining. The economy of Jixi is mainly constructed around rich coal resources. Jixi is estimated to have about 8 billion tons of coal reserves, ranking 2nd out of 13 prefectures and prefecture-level cities in Heilongjiang Province. Coal chemical industry, metallurgy and machinery are predominant. The environmental protection industry, agriculture and tourist industries are also developing rapidly in recent years. However, Coal still accounts for the main part of the entire economic system. Other pillar industries in Jixi include pharmaceuticals, food manufacturing, non-metal products and electricity production and supply. Large industrial companies are hosted in Jixi such as Huawei Wood and Heilongjiang Rixin Food, which is mainly engaged in edible fungus processing. The food company has annual processing capacity of 2,500 tons of edible fungus. The graphite reserves of Jixi amount to 780 million tons, ranking first in all of Asia. With the Khanka Lake being shared with Russia and the Muling River running through the city, Chinese medicinal herbs and freshwater resources are also rich.

Geography

Jixi is located at the southern edge of the Sanjiang or Three Rivers Plain. Bordering prefecture cities are:Mudanjiang (SW)Qitaihe (N)Shuangyashan (N)It also borders Russia's Primorsky Krai to the southeast. The city is located within latitude 44° 51'−46° 36' N and longitude 130° 24'−133° 56' E, and has an administrative area of 22,351 square kilometres (8,630 sq mi). Much of the prefecture area sits within the conjunction region between the Changbai Mountains and the Wanda Mountains. Within its borders, Lake Xingkai is the largest lake with an area of 4,380 square kilometres (1,691 sq mi), while the Muling River, Songacha River and the Ussuri River are the largest rivers in the prefecture.Climate[edit]Jixi has a monsoon-influenced, humid continental climate (Köppen Dwb/Dwa),[7] with bitter but dry winters, and warm, humid summers. However, due to the relative proximity to the Sea of Japan, summer is comparatively cool and refreshing while the climate here is affected and coordinated by the marine climate. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −16.4 °C (2.5 °F) in January to 21.9 °C (71.4 °F) in July, and the annual mean is 4.23 °C (39.6 °F). With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 50% in July to 68% in February, the city receives abundant sunshine, with 2,564 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from −34.7 °C (−30 °F) to 37.6 °C (100 °F).

History

Ancient timesJixi was ruled by the Jurchen and Goguryeo people. By the Shang dynasty, dwellers here had begun to communicate with people in the Central Plain. It was in the Han dynasty that primitive agriculture in this region had made great progress. During the Tang dynasty, Jixi was under the control of the Balhae. As the Manchus conquered the territories occupied by the Ming dynasty in 1644, the basin of the Amur River was blocked in order to protect the Manchu people's place of origin. In this period, the population of the Jixi region experienced a sharp decrease. In 1662, the Kangxi Emperor ordered the general of Ninguta to dominate the territory. Since a large number of people engaged in reclaiming wasteland and collecting ginseng, Jixi and the whole Ussuri River basin gradually became the base for medicinal materials.Early modern periodIn the second half of the 19th century, as Czarist Russia advanced through Siberia and reached the Sea of Okhotsk, the Qing officials like General Tepuqin (特普欽) made a proposal to open Manchuria for farming in order to oppose the conquest of Russia, and so the Qing government forsook the policy of blockading on the Northeast region of China. A large number of the Han Chinese, especially from the Shandong Peninsula and Zhili, migrated into Manchuria. The Qing government set up Mishan Prefecture in this territory in 1908. Coal resources were discovered constantly in Jixi during this period. In September 1914, a merchant named Yuan Dazhang (袁大章) from Mukden was approved to set up the Mixi Coal Mine Company, which represents the regular production of coal in Jixi. However, construction of Chinese Eastern Railway one of the provisions brought a nucleus of Russian Jews to northern Manchuria. In January 1924, Muling Coal Mine Corporation was operated jointly by the Jewish businessman Solomon L. Skidelsky and the Jilin Province government. The headquarters of the company was located on Ashihe Street, Nangang District, Harbin. The output of Muling Colliery has reached 1.6 million tons in 1931. Since The Japanese invasion of Manchuria began on September 19, 1931, the whole of Manchuria was seized by Japan following the Mukden Incident, and in 1932, a sympathetic government, Manchukuo, was established. The Jixi region then became a colony of the Japanese. On December 15, 1935, Jixi Railway Station's construction was completed by South Manchuria Railway(SMR). On September 1, 1941, the Manchukuo government established Jining County (鶏寧縣). The first mayor of the county was Kubota Yutaka (久保田 豊). The Japanese settlers brutally slaughtered more than 100 thousand miners in the Jixi mining area, leaving several mass graves in Didao. On August 9, 1945, Togashi Ichiro (冨樫 一郎), the conductor of Didao Colliery, ordered the destruction of the coalpits in Hengshan, Didao and Muling as the Soviet Red Army closed in.Modern eraOn August 12, 1945, the Soviet Army captured Jining County, and the Military Headquarters commanded the Jixi mining area to resume production. On October 18, 1947, Jixi Mining Bureau was founded in order to control the collieries and the Coal Mine Machinery Factory. On July 30, 1949, the Northeast Executive Committee allowed Jining County to change its name to Jixi County, which was administered by Songjiang Province. On June 19, 1954, Jixi County was administered by Heilongjiang Province as the Songjiang Province became part of Heilongjiang province.During the First Five-Year Plan of China, several industrial projects including Chengzihe No.9 subvertical and the Chengzihe Coal Washery were constructed. By 1956, the population of Jixi had reached 234,154, and the output of coal rose to 5 million tons per year. On December 18, 1956, the State Council of China decided to set up Jixi City (Prefectural-Level) instead of Jixi County, administering 5 districts including Jiguan, Didao, Mashan, Hengshan and Lishu. On March 7, Jixi City was formally established. In 1970, Chengzihe District was established. In 1983, Jidong County was put under Jixi's administration. The coal-mining industry was developing rapidly during the 1970s and 1980s. By 1991, the total coal output of Jixi ranked second in the Chinese Mainland. In the 1980s, Mishan and Hulin were incorporated into Jixi's jurisdiction. Jixi has reached its current domain.