Beijing, China

Economy | Sector composition | Economic zones | Education and research

🇨🇳 Beijing, 北京, alternatively romanised as Peking, is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's most populous national capital city. It is located in Northern China, and is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of the State Council with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing is mostly surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighbouring Tianjin to the south-east; together, the three divisions form the Jingjinji megalopolis and the national capital region of China.

Beijing is a global city and one of the world's leading centres for culture, diplomacy and politics, business and economics, education, language, and science and technology. A mega-city, Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by urban population and is the nation's cultural, educational, and political centre. It is home to the headquarters of most of China's largest state-owned companies and houses the largest number of Fortune Global 500 companies in the world, as well as the world's four biggest financial institutions by total assets. Beijing is the "billionaire capital of the world" with the highest number of billionaires living in the city. It is also a major hub for the national highway, expressway, railway, and high-speed rail networks. The Beijing Capital International Airport has been the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic since 2010, and, as of 2016, the city's subway network is the busiest and longest in the world. The Beijing Daxing International Airport, a second international airport in Beijing, is the largest single-structure airport terminal in the world.

Combining both modern and traditional style architectures, Beijing is one of the oldest cities in the world, with a rich history dating back over three millennia. As the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political centre of the country for most of the past eight centuries, and was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium AD. With mountains surrounding the inland city on three sides, in addition to the old inner and outer city walls, Beijing was strategically poised and developed to be the residence of the emperor and thus was the perfect location for the imperial capital. The city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates. It has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites—the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Zhoukoudian, and parts of the Great Wall and the Grand Canal—all of which are popular tourist locations. Siheyuans, the city's traditional housing style, and hutongs, the narrow alleys between siheyuans, are major tourist attractions and are common in urban Beijing.

Many of Beijing's 91 universities consistently rank among the best in the Asia-Pacific and the world. Beijing is home to the two best C9 League universities (Tsinghua and Peking) in the Asia-Pacific and emerging countries. Beijing CBD is a centre for Beijing's economic expansion, with the ongoing or recently completed construction of multiple skyscrapers. Beijing's Zhongguancun area is a world leading centre of scientific and technological innovation as well as entrepreneurship. Beijing has been ranked the No.1 city in the world with the largest scientific research output as tracked by the Nature Index since 2016. The city has hosted numerous international and national sporting events, the most notable being the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Paralympics Games. Beijing will become the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics, and also the Summer and Winter Paralympics. Beijing hosts 175 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many organisations, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Silk Road Fund, the Chinese Academy of Science, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Red Cross Society of China.

Economy As of 2018, Beijing's nominal GDP was US$458 billion (CN¥3.0 trillion), about 3.45% of the country's GDP and ranked 12th among province-level administrative units; its nominal GDP per capita was US$21,261 (CN¥140,748) and ranked the 1st in the country. As of 2021, Beijing's gross regional products was CN¥4 trillion ($965 billion in GDP PPP), ranking among the tenth largest metropolitan economies in the world. Beijing's nominal GDP is projected to reach US$1.1 trillion in 2035, ranking among the world's top 10 largest cities (together with Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in China) according to a study by Oxford Economics, and its nominal GDP per capita will reach US$45,000 in 2030.

Due to the concentration of state owned enterprises in the national capital, Beijing in 2013 had more Fortune Global 500 Company headquarters than any other city in the world. Beijing has also been described as the "billionaire capital of the world". Beijing is ranked first globally in terms of "Global City Competitiveness" in the 2020-2021 Global Urban Competitiveness Report jointly released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the United Nations Programme for Human Settlements (UN-Habitat).

Sector composition The city has a post-industrial economy that is dominated by the tertiary sector (services), which generated 76.9% of output, followed by the secondary sector (manufacturing, construction) at 22.2% and the primary sector (agriculture, mining) at 0.8%.

The services sector is broadly diversified with professional services, wholesale and retail, information technology, commercial real estate, scientific research, and residential real estate each contributing at least 6% to the city's economy in 2013.

The single largest sub-sector remains industry, whose share of overall output has shrunk to 18.1% in 2013. The mix of industrial output has changed significantly since 2010 when the city announced that 140 highly-polluting, energy and water resource intensive enterprises would be relocated from the city in five years. The relocation of Capital Steel to neighboring Hebei province had begun in 2005. In 2013, output of automobiles, aerospace products, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and food processing all increased.

In the farmland around Beijing, vegetables and fruits have displaced grain as the primary crops under cultivation. In 2013, the tonnage of vegetable, edible fungus and fruit harvested was over three times that of grain. In 2013, overall acreage under cultivation shrank along with most categories of produce as more land was reforested for environmental reasons.

Economic zones In 2006, the city government identified six high-end economic output zones around Beijing as the primary engines for local economic growth. In 2012, the six zones produced 43.3% of the city's GDP, up from 36.5% in 2007. The six zones are: 1 Zhongguancun, China's silicon village in Haidian District north-west of the city, is home to both established and start-up tech companies. In the first two quarters of 2014, 9,895 companies registered in the six zones, among which 6,150 were based in Zhongguancun. Zhongguancun is also the centre of Beijing-Tianjin-Shijiazhuang Hi-Tech Industrial Belt.

2 Beijing Financial Street, in Xicheng District on the west side of the city between Fuxingmen and Fuchengmen, is lined with headquarters of large state banks and insurance companies. The country's financial regulatory agencies including the central bank, bank regulator, securities regulator, and foreign exchange authority are located in the neighborhood.

3 Beijing Central Business District (CBD), is actually located to the east of downtown, near the embassies along the eastern Third Ring Road between Jianguomenwai and Chaoyangmenwai. The CBD is home to most of the city's skyscraper office buildings. Most of the city's foreign companies and professional service firms are based in the CBD.

4 Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area, better known as Yizhuang, is an industrial park the straddles the southern Fifth Ring Road in Daxing District. It has attracted pharmaceutical, information technology, and materials engineering companies.

5 Beijing Airport Economic Zone was created in 1993 and surrounds the Beijing Capital International Airport in Shunyi District north-east of the city. In addition to logistics, airline services, and trading firms, this zone is also home to Beijing's automobile assembly plants.

6 Beijing Olympic Center Zone surrounds the Olympic Green due north of downtown and is developing into an entertainment, sports, tourism and business convention center.

Shijingshan, on the western outskirts of the city, is a traditional heavy industrial base for steel-making. Chemical plants are concentrated in the far eastern suburbs.

Less legitimate enterprises also exist. Urban Beijing is known for being a centre of infringed goods; anything from the latest designer clothing to DVDs can be found in markets all over the city, often marketed to expatriates and international visitors.

Education and research Beijing is a world leading centre for scientific and technological innovation and has been ranked the No.1 city in the world with the largest scientific research output, as tracked by the Nature Index since 2016. The city is also leading the world with the highest share of articles published in the fields of physical sciences, chemistry, and earth and environmental sciences, especially in the United Nations'17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related output.

Beijing has over 90 public colleges and universities, which is the largest urban public university system in Asia and the first city in China with most higher education institutions, and it is home to the two best universities (Tsinghua and Peking) in the whole of Asia-Oceania region and emerging countries with its shared rankings at 16th place in the world by the 2022 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Both are members of the C9 League, an alliance of elite Chinese universities offering comprehensive and leading education.

Beijing also has the highest number of universities of any city in the country, representing more than one-fifth of 147 Double First-Class Universities, a national plan to develop elite Chinese universities into world-class institutions by the end of 2050. A number of Beijing's most prestigious universities consistently rank among the best in the Asia-Pacific and the world, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Beijing Normal University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beihang University, Beijing Institute of Technology, China Agricultural University, Minzu University of China, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, University of International Business and Economics, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Central University of Finance and Economics. These universities were selected as "985 universities" or "211 universities" by the Chinese government in order to build world-class universities.

Some of the national key universities in Beijing are: • Beijing Forestry University • Beijing Jiaotong University • Beijing University of Technology • Beijing University of Chinese Medicine • Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications • Beijing Electronic Science and Technology Institute • Beijing Foreign Studies University • Beijing Language and Culture University • Beijing Sport University • Central Conservatory of Music • Central Academy of Fine Arts • Central Academy of Drama • China University of Geosciences (Beijing) • China University of Petroleum (Beijing) • China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing) • China University of Political Science and Law • China Foreign Affairs University • Chinese People's Public Security University • China Women's University • China Youth University for Political Sciences • China Institute of Industrial Relations • Communication University of China • North China Electric Power University • Peking Union Medical College • University of International Relations.

The city is a seat of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which has been consistently ranked the No.1 research institute in the world by Nature Index since the list's inception in 2014, by Nature Research. Beijing is also a site of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and National Natural Science Foundation of China.

The city's compulsory education system is among the best in the world: in 2018, 15-year-old students from Beijing (together with Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu) outperformed all of the other 78 participating countries in all categories (math, reading, and science) in the Program for International Student Assessment, a worldwide study of academic performance conducted by the OECD.

Beijing, China 
<b>Beijing, China</b>
Image: Adobe Stock ake1150 #180997698

Beijing is rated Alpha + by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) which evaluates and ranks the relationships between world cities in the context of globalisation. Alpha level cities are linked to major economic states and regions and into the world economy, Alpha + cities are highly integrated cities, filling advanced service needs

Beijing is the #8 city in the world according to the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) which evaluates and ranks the competitiveness of the major financial centres of the world according to a wide range of criteria – Human Capital, Business, Finance, Infrastructure and Reputation.

Beijing is the #24 city in the world according to the Global Power City Index (GPCI) which evaluates and ranks the major cities of the world according to their magnetism, or their comprehensive power to attract people, capital, and enterprises from around the world. It does so through measuring six key functions: Economy, Research and Development, Cultural Interaction, Liveability, Environment, and Accessibility.

Beijing is ranked #17 and rated A by the Global Urban Competitiveness Report (GUCR) which evaluates and ranks world cities in the context of economic competitiveness. A cities are international cities. Beijing was ranked #567 by the Nomad List which evaluates and ranks remote work hubs by cost, internet, fun and safety. Beijing has a population of over 21,516,000 people. Beijing also forms part of the wider Jing-Jin-Ji metropolitan area which has a population of over 112,000,000 people. Beijing is ranked #3 for startups with a score of 66.049.

To set up a UBI Lab for Beijing see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Beijing has links with:

🇪🇹 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 🇲🇽 Álvaro Obregón, Mexico 🇹🇷 Ankara, Turkey 🇰🇿 Astana, Kazakhstan 🇬🇷 Athens, Greece 🇹🇭 Bangkok, Thailand 🇷🇸 Belgrade, Serbia 🇩🇪 Berlin, Germany 🇧🇪 Brussels, Belgium 🇩🇰 Brønshøj, Denmark 🇷🇴 Bucharest, Romania 🇭🇺 Budapest, Hungary 🇦🇷 Buenos Aires, Argentina 🇰🇷 Busan, South Korea 🇪🇬 Cairo, Egypt 🇦🇺 Canberra, Australia 🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark 🇪🇸 Coslada, Spain 🇮🇳 Delhi, India 🇶🇦 Doha, Qatar 🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland 🇬🇹 Guatemala City, Guatemala 🇻🇳 Hanoi, Vietnam 🇨🇺 Havana, Cuba 🇫🇮 Helsinki, Finland 🇺🇸 Holyoke, USA 🇯🇵 Ina, Japan 🇵🇰 Islamabad, Pakistan 🇮🇩 Jakarta, Indonesia 🇿🇦 Johannesburg, South Africa 🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine 🇵🇪 Lima, Perú 🇵🇹 Lisbon, Portugal 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London, England 🇪🇸 Madrid, Spain 🇵🇭 Manila, Philippines 🇲🇽 Mexico City, Mexico 🇧🇾 Minsk, Belarus 🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia 🇮🇳 New Delhi, India 🇺🇸 New York, USA 🇰🇿 Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan 🇨🇦 Ottawa, Canada 🇫🇷 Paris, France 🇰🇭 Phnom Penh, Cambodia 🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia 🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 🇮🇹 Rome, Italy 🇨🇷 San José, Costa Rica 🇨🇱 Santiago, Chile 🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea 🇦🇺 Sydney, Australia 🇮🇷 Tehran, Iran 🇮🇱 Tel Aviv, Israel 🇦🇱 Tirana, Albania 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan 🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 🇱🇦 Vientiane, Laos 🇺🇸 Washington D.C., USA 🇳🇿 Wellington, New Zealand 🇯🇵 Yokohama, Japan
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license | GPCI | GFCI | GaWC | GUCR | Nomad | StartupBlink

Antipodal to Beijing is: -63.617,-39.9

Locations Near: Beijing 116.383,39.9

🇨🇳 Dongcheng District 116.4,39.917 d: 2.4  

🇨🇳 Cheongwen 116.413,39.891 d: 2.8  

🇨🇳 Xicheng 116.35,39.9 d: 2.8  

🇨🇳 Dongcheng 116.414,39.924 d: 3.7  

🇨🇳 Chaoyang 116.442,39.926 d: 5.8  

🇨🇳 Haidian 116.298,39.96 d: 9.9  

🇨🇳 Fengtai 116.287,39.859 d: 9.4  

🇨🇳 Shijingshan 116.223,39.906 d: 13.7  

🇨🇳 Daxing 116.341,39.727 d: 19.6  

🇨🇳 Tongzhou 116.644,39.9 d: 22.3  

Antipodal to: Beijing -63.617,-39.9

🇦🇷 Viedma -62.995,-40.808 d: 19901.1  

🇦🇷 Bahía Blanca -62.266,-38.718 d: 19839.6  

🇦🇷 Puerto Madryn -65.037,-42.773 d: 19674.4  

🇦🇷 Santa Rosa -64.283,-36.617 d: 19645.4  

🇦🇷 General Roca -67.575,-39.027 d: 19661.7  

🇦🇷 Olavarría -60.333,-36.9 d: 19575.7  

🇦🇷 Cipolletti -67.987,-38.929 d: 19624.5  

🇦🇷 Neuquén -68.052,-38.926 d: 19619.1  

🇦🇷 Neuquén City -68.064,-38.953 d: 19618.9  

🇦🇷 Parera -64.502,-35.147 d: 19480.8  

Bing Map

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