Binzhou City is located in northern Shandong, the hinterland of the Yellow River Delta, and the southwestern coast of the Bohai Sea. Its coastline stretches 240 kilometres. The Yellow River flows across the city and Binzhou is one of the five cities along the Yellow River (the other four are Yinchuan, Xi’an, Zhengzhou and Jinan). Situated at the juncture of the economic area around the Bohai Sea and the economic area along the Yellow River, Binzhou represents the intersection of Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu and the Shandong Peninsular Economic Development Regions, and thus it enjoys an advantageous geographical location. Binzhou exercises jurisdiction over one district (Bincheng), six counties (Huimin, Yangxin, Wudi, Zhanhua, Bo Xing, and Zouping), and one economic development zone. With a total area of 9,600 square kilometres, Binzhou provides home to 3.65 million people.

Binzhou has a very convenient transportation system. The Yellow River Bridge stretches over the Yellow River, and it is an important passage connecting Jiangsu, Shandong, Beijing and Tianjin. The Jinan-Qingdao Expressway across southern Binzhou and the Binzhou-Boshan Expressway have formed the high-grade highway framework in Binzhou. The main stem of the JiaoJi Railroad runs across the southern part of Binzhou with its spur line penetrating the city. The HuangDa Railway and the 100,000- ton Huanghua Port, which is just at the north gate of Binzhou, are being constructed. At present, it only takes one hour to drive to the Jinan Airport, three hours to the port city of Qingdao and one day for a return trip to Beijing.

Binzhou boasts a long history and civilization. From as early as 7,000 years ago, our forefathers have laboured, lived and multiplied on this land. Binzhou was one of the places of origin of the Yellow River Culture and the Qi Culture. Sunwu, the author of the Master Sun’s Art of War, Fan Zhongyan, a famous statesman in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Dong Yong, a famous filial son in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.--220 A.D.), Liang Shuming (1893-1988), a contemporary thinker, educationist and social activist were all born, grew up and worked here. The Lü Opera originated from Bo Xing County, the Huji Story-telling Fair in Huimin, the paper -cutting, clay sculpture and the woodcut are all unique art forms with Binzhou folk features.

Binzhou has abundant tourism resources. The southern area of the city is covered with hills and the Mount Heban is a beautiful scenic spot for sightseeing. In the northern part of the city, you can see the Shell Dam, the Wangzi Island, the game land and the horse -racing course. The Yangxin Pear Blossom Festival, the Zhanhua Winter Date Festival, the Wudi Golden –silk Date Festival, the Sun Tzu Cultural and Tourism Festival and Bo Xing (international) Local Operas Festival are all characterised with strong local features. The key provincial-level tourism project of Sun Tzu’s Art of War City will show you the profound mysteries brought about by the ancient military culture and modern science and technology. The Sun Tzu’s Ancestral Residence, the Wei’s Manor, the Fanggong Temple, the Zhangba Buddha, the Jieshi Hill and the Mada Lake are historical relics and scenic spots attracting thousands of tourists both from home and abroad every year.

Binzhou abounds in resources and products. The city covers a vast area and has rich land resource. It ranks the first for the average land per capita in the whole province. Binzhou is the main grain and cotton production base in Shandong. The five production bases for cotton, vegetables, winter date, aquatic production and pasture have been constructed with an area of one million Chinese mu each (a hectare equals to about 15 mu). The Zhanhua winter date, Wudi golden-silk date, Yangxin pear, Zouping apricot and Huimin sweet peach are famous brand named products and are popular all over the world. The Bohai black cattle and the marsh- land sheep are fine types of livestock. With its rich aquatic production, Binzhou has the second biggest salt production base in Shandong and one of the four biggest fisheries nationwide. Binzhou City is the major oil recovery area of the Shengli Oilfield, the second largest oilfield in China. There are abundant oil and natural gas reserves and so far the presence of 26 kinds of minerals has been verified. The shell resource along the coastal areas has tremendous potential for development.

There have formed in Binzhou the four key industries of textiles, chemicals, machinery and foodstuffs. The Binzhou Weimian Group and the Binzhou Chemical Industry Group have been ranked among China’s top 500 enterprises. At present, large enterprises like Weimian, Xiwang, Lubei Chemical, Zhonghai Asphalt and Binzhou Piston all enjoy a high prestige in the same circles both at home and abroad for their scales and technological advantages. And especially the textile industry in Binzhou is developing rapidly with a strong vitality, In Oct. of 2003, Binzhou City and Wenzhou City of Zhejiang Province jointly hosted the first China Household Textile Festival in Binzhou, aiming to make Binzhou the “Textile Capital of China”. During the festival, 300 famous enterprises and 1,500 business people from home and abroad came to Binzhou for the product exhibition and business cooperation. More than 100 projects were contracted at the festival. In addition, the private-sector economy has been prospering. Some new businesses like Xinfu’s kitchen utensils and Lizhuang Village’s string and net production have been cultivated and many private enterprises like Jide Group have emerged.

Binzhou is a hygiene city at the state level. It is dotted and embellished with tall and splendid buildings like the Electric Power Building, the Yinmao Hotel and the Guiyuan Hotel. The Binzhou Modern Logistics Centres and the Sun Tzu’s Art of War City have been constructed, and there are perfect facilities for food, accommodation, transport, shopping, travelling and recreation in the city. The new Municipal Government Office Building, the Binzhou Institute, the Binzhou Customs Building, the Binzhou TV & Broadcasting Building are all being constructed in the new administrative and cultural centre. The urban gardening areas, comprising the round-city highway, round-city river, round-city green belt and round-city scenic spot, together with the five round-city plain reservoirs located at the eastern, western, southern, northern and middle areas constitute a new frame for the harmonious development of social economy, natural resources, and environment on the yellow River Delta.

The infrastructure in Binzhou, including communication, electricity supply, water supply, is completely in place and functional. And Binzhou has many scientific research institutions and higher learning colleges. There has been rapid progress in the basic education, vocational education, medical health, TV & broadcasting and physical education.

Binzhou is a window for the Chinese opening to the outside. Zouping County was chosen by the state as the only rural investigation spot open to the U.S.A. The American former president Jimmy Cater once paid a visit to Binzhou. So far, Binzhou has twinned nine friendship city ties with the City of Playford in Australia, Koyang City in South Korea and so on. Binzhou has also secured economic and trading cooperation relationships with more than 60 countries and regions. In Binzhou, there are 492 foreign-invested enterprises, some of which were invested by world top 500 enterprises like Itochu Cooperation of Japan. The foreign-invested Yangxin Changwei Electronics, Binzhou Huarun Textile, Zouping Riqing Foodstuffs are prospering with good profit returns.

Binzhou provides outside investors from home and abroad with a fine development environment. The investors can enjoy the best preferential policies, first-rate services and good business returns. So far, several areas in Binzhou Economic Development Zone have been planned for the production of light textile, machinery, electronics and foodstuffs and BEDZ promises to the public that one-stop service will be provided for investors with highest efficiency. Within only two years’ time, 43 projects have been invested here, 18 of which exceeded 100 million yuan RMB each, and five over one billion yuan RMB each. The Binzhou Piston Industrial Park and the first phase of the Binwei Scientific and Technological Industrial Park have gone into operation, The second phase of the Binwei Scientific and Technological Industrial Park, the Binzhou Dyeing & Printing Industrial Park, the High-Tech Pioneering Service Centre, the Modern Logistics Centres, the US Baili Leather Products Industrial Park and the South Korean Industrial Park are all being constructed. Binzhou has attracted outside investment in the fields of deep processing of farm and sideline products, modern logistics, information service, financial insurance, infrastructure and tourism. All these have provided the investors great opportunities for business development in Binzhou. In the golden autumn of 2003, the National Motor Boat Race Championship, the National Ping Pong Games and other four national sports events were held in Binzhou, thousands of athletes, guests and business people gathered to participate in the events, promote business communication and cooperation and enjoy their travelling and sightseeing in Binzhou.

The next five years is a very important period for Binzhou’s social and economic development. The people of Binzhou are determined to keep pace with the times and strive to make Binzhou a modern, ecotype garden city on the Yellow River Delta.