Ningbo is located at the middle part of China's coastline and south flank of the Yangtze River Delta, bordering on Shanghai and Hangzhou.

Ningbo is one of the cities opening up to the outside world, an independently planning-city enjoying the same rights as those of a provincial government in economic management, "a large city" entitled to formulate local laws and regulations, and a famous historic city with rich cultural heritage. It covers an area of 9,365 sq.km and has a population of 5.52 million. The jurisdiction of Ningbo City encompasses two counties (Xiangshan and Ninghai), three county-level cities (Yuyao, Cixi and Fenghua) and six urban districts (Haishu, Jiangdong, Jiangbei, Zhenhai, Beilun and Yinzhou).

Ningbo boasts a long history. It is the birthplace of the "Neolithic Hemudu Culture" dating back more than 7,000 years. Ningbo has been a well-known key port for foreign trade ever since ancient time. Ningbo ranked with Yangzhou and Guangzhou as the three biggest ports for foreign trade in Tang Dynasty and with Guangzhou and Quanzhou in Song Dynasty. After the First Opium War, Ningbo had been opened as one of the five commercial ports opened. Ningbo port has become one of the important ports in China. Its cargo handling capacity reached 200 million tonnages in 2004, ranking second among the ports in the mainland of China, and its container handling capacity amounted to 4 million TEU.

Enjoying sound conditions for economics development, the social economy of Ningbo has been developed rapidly since opening up to the outside world. In 2004, the city GDP reached 215.8 billion RMB yuan, the GDP per capita 3800 dollars, the revenue 40 billion RMB yuan .The average disposable income of urban dwellers grew to 15,882 RMB yuan and the net income of peasants climbed to 5,764 RMB yuan. Nowadays, Ningbo has become an important industrial city and foreign trade port in east China, a key city and chemical industrial base in Yangtze Delta and an economic center of Zhejiang Province.

Ningbo enjoys subtropical monsoon climate featuring mild temperature, moderate humidity and distinctive seasons. The city is an ideal tourist place with culture monuments and historical sites.

Ningbo has great potentialities in development. By the year 2010, Ningbo will be built into a modernized socialist international port city with strong economic strength, further opening, advanced science and culture, comfortable life, fine social morality and beautiful environment.

Foreign Trade & Economy

As a historical port city for foreign trade, Ningbo had become one of the three ports for foreign trade in China as early as the 7th century. In 2004, the city's total import and export value was USD 26.1 billion. In a breakdown, the export value was USD 16.7 billion, and import value was USD 9.4 billion. The export of high-tech products increased, with its total export valued at USD 622 million, up 33.15% from the previous year. At the same time, the number of exporters and exporting personnel in the city continues to grow when 367 new self-managed exporters emerged and the export market expanded to cover 187 countries and regions of the world.