Situated in the north end of the Yangtze Delta and at the junction of Shanghai economic ring and Nanjing economic ring, Yangzhou exercises jurisdiction over three districts, three county-level cities and one county with the total area of 6634 square kilometers and the total population of 4.56 million. The city proper covers 980 square kilometers with the population of 1.28 million.

      Yangzhou enjoys very convenient transportation. In history, it had been an important hub of both water and land transportation and an important gate between the south and the north of China thanks to its prestigiously geographic location by relying on the junction of the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Since the implementation of the reform and the opening-up policy, a considerable transportation infrastructure has started construction and completed through our unremitting efforts. In March 2004, Yangzhou Harbor, a state first-class open harbor has entered the global transportation network through the overall cooperation with Sino Far-pacific Corp. In May 2004, Nanjing-Yangzhou railway opened its traffic.

      Century-old dream of Yangzhou people has been fulfilled with the traffic opening of the railways of the five golden lines such as Yangzhou-Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Xi’an as well as other transit trains from Yangzhou to Shengzheng, Hangzhou, etc. In Oct 2004, Yangzhou ring expressway completed, taking the lead in the whole province to have the ring road and road network among all the counties. In May 2005, Runyang Bridge was constructed, which has fastened its step to be one part of the southern Jiangsu and to the world. This year, the highways along the Yangtze River　 have formed a network, which has become the roads leading to overall development and prosperity. During the period of the eleventh five-year plan, we are planning to construct such important transportation projects as Suzhong Airport, southward extension of the Beijing-Shanghai highway and Wufengshan Yangtze River Bridge, Huaiyang Railway, which will further shorten the time and distance between Yangzhou and Shanghai. As an open coastal city with nearly one million people in the middle of Jiangsu province, Yangzhou has becoming a strengthened bridge to the inner parts from the Yangtze Delta and an important base for the settlement of foreign and overseas, Hongkong and Macao and the Pearle River Triangle capital investment.

      The outstanding geographic location is associated with the upgrading of the delicate city image. With the long history of nearly 2500 years, prosperous economy and rich culture, Yangzhou was one of the famous historic and cultural cities announced firstly by the State Council. It had experienced three prosperities in Han dynasties, Sui and Tang dynasties and in the rein of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing dynasty. It used to be one of the ten metropolises in the world with the population over 500,000 during the rein of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing dynasty. Yangzhou has its distinctive cultural features. Yangzhou opera, local tunes, paper cutting, lacquer ware, jade ware and characters printing had been listed among the cultural heritages firstly announced by the State. It is also rich in tourism with 293 cultural relics and historic sites under the state or provincial preservation. Its picturesque landscapes, cruise lines, delicate gardens, time-honored houses and ancient lanes, all add their charm and attraction to this city. We can’t restrain ourselves from mentioning the Slender West Lake Landscape, one of the ten famous landscapes in China, Geyuan Garden, one of the four famous gardens in China and Heyuan Garden, number one garden in the late Qing dynasty. In the recent decades, 20 billion Yuan has been invested to the infrastructure to further improve its road transportation, water supply, gas supply and power supply, which greatly upgraded its bearing capability and cultural elegance. Urban preservation has been implemented to the 5.09 square kilometers of the old town, completing the repair and refurbishment of Dongguan Street and Dongquanmeng, the two historic community streets as well as the southern part of Geyuan Garden, Residence of Governor Wu, Kangshan Garden and the old Residence of Mr. Lu, a salt merchant. Based on the famous houses, more than ten museums had been constructed such as Industrial Museum, Demonstration Hall of Potted Landscape of Yangzhou School and Museums of both Huaiyang Cuisine and Water Surroundings and Han Tomb Museum, etc. On the new west zone with the planned construction area of 10 square kilometers built amount of modern symbolic buildings such as Yangzhou Museum, China Character-carved Printing Museum and International Exhibition Center, Sports Garden.

      We pay attention not only to the repair and preservation but also to the urban ecological environment in its planning and construction. In 2000, Yangzhou cooperated with German in the urban preservation project. In August 2003, the plan of ecological demonstration city was passed in Beijing, hence becoming one of the first ecological planning cities. We have taken initiatives in building up an ecological economic system and adjust the industrial development structure to have industries gathered in the industrial gardens. More than 100 high pollutant industrial enterprises have been closed. In some enterprises, the recycle economy has been encouraged. In the meantime, organic and green agriculture has stepped up with Baoying county being the only demonstration county of the organic food base in China.

      By the end of last year, the forest coverage reached 14.5% in he whole city. We carried out an amount of water environmental projects such as the water activating project in the Slender West Lake, the urban segment of the Ancient Canal and newly constructed an amount of gardenlike scenic spots such as the Central Park in the new district, Runyang Forest Park, Shugang West-ridge Ecological Park, Quejiang Park. The greenery coverage in the urban area amounts to 2319 hectare with the rate up to 36.9% and the public greenery coverage 9.15 square meters per capita. In the recent years, Yangzhou had been rewarded with the honorary titles such as National Hygiene City, National Environmental Protection Model City, National Garden City and the first Award of Best Practice for Human Settlement. Last year, it passed the periodical check of the ecological demonstration city by the State. Yangzhou has gradually been becoming a delicate and beautiful city “with the city inside the forest, people living in gardens and within the pictures” for human settlement.