Jilin Economic and Technological Development Area in Jilin city, in Jilin province. [Photo/jleda.gov.cn]

Jilin city, located in Northeast China's Jilin province, is the second largest city in the province. It covers an area of 27,120 square kilometers, with an urban area of 3,636 sq km. It has jurisdiction over four districts and administers five county level cities, two national-level development zones, 15 provincial-level development zones and one provincial-level industrial concentration zone. Jilin city has a total population of 4.5 million, of which the urban population numbers 2 million.

It has the title of being one of China's historical and cultural cities, one of China's outstanding tourist cities, national garden cities, the 10 most famous Chinese cities worth introducing to the world, China's top 10 characteristic leisure cities and one of China's most competitive cities during the next 10 years.

According to preliminary calculations in 2018, the annual GDP of the city increased by 2.4 percent over the previous year. During the same period, the added value of the primary industry increased by 1.7 percent; the added value of the secondary industry increased by 3.9 percent; and the added value of the tertiary industry increased by 1.2 percent.

Jilin city has a forest coverage rate of 54.9 percent, and the per capita green area in the urban area is 9.23 square meters, which is 3.23 sq m more than the Chinese national standard -- making it a livable city in the country.

It also has a profound cultural background and is one of the birthplaces of the Manchu ethnic group in China. In the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Jilin business magnate Niu Zihou founded the earliest Peking Opera class in China. It trained a number of Peking Opera masters such as Mei Lanfang, Zhou Xinfang, and Ma Lianliang -- so Jilin city was hailed as "the second hometown of Chinese Peking Opera".

The city also has a complete modern education system and medical health service system, as well as an efficient urban infrastructure.

Jilin city boasts a strong industrial foundation and was an old national key industrial base during the First Five-Year Plan (1953-1957). Following decades of development, especially over 30 years of the reform and opening-up, the city has established traditional industries in petrochemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, energy, agricultural product processing and non-metallic minerals, as well as new industries including carbon fiber, equipment manufacturing, biology, basic electronics and power electronics.

Jilin Fuel Alcohol Company Ltd and Jilin Chemical Fiber Group Co Ltd play leading roles in China. Jilin Carbon Co Ltd is Asia's largest in its field and is one of the top four international carbon enterprises, whose process technology represents the highest level of China's carbon industry. Jilin city is also recognized as the only national carbon fiber high-tech industrialization base by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

In recent years the city has also seen the rapid development of modern service industries such as commerce, logistics, financial insurance, and information consulting -- providing a favorable environment for investment and business development.

Jilin city has a total population of 4.12 million, of which the urban population numbers 2.18 million.

According to preliminary calculations in 2020, the annual GDP of the city is 273 billion yuan ($41.93 billion).