Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture

Yanbian has abundant produce and beautiful sceneries. It is a famous base for timber and produces over 30 kinds of trees including Korean pine, white pine, changbai larch, amur linden, white birch and others of high economic value. In Yanbian there are over 50 kinds of metal minerals including gold, lead, zinc, copper, silver, manganese and mercury and over 40 kinds of non-metal minerals. Its coal reserve is 12 billion tons, oil 100 million tons and peat 228 million cubic meters. Yanbian has ample rainfall, 487 large and small rivers with water energy of 1.405 million KW and 59000 hectares of natural grassland. It has many kinds of native and special products and over 1460 kinds of wild economic plants, of which over 800 kinds are medicinal plants. The Northeast Three Treasures(ginseng, marten and pilose antler),gallbladder, China's forest frog oil and other valuable Chinese medicinal herbs are famous both at home and abroad. Yanbian is the largest place in China that grows apple-pears, known as "the home of apple-pears". The wonderful and magnificent Changbai Mountain natural sights are famous far and near and is listed as a state tourist scenic area. The unique Korean customs and lifestyles attract tens of thousands of Chinese and foreign tourists.

Since China's reform and opening to the outside world, Yanbian has made rapid progress in its economic construction ranking the forefront of minority areas in China. Its industry has a full range of departments, including a dozen of key industries forestry, paper-making, cigarettes, chemicals, textiles, coal, electric power, metallurgy, machine-making, electronics, building materials, medicine and foodstuffs, as well as a number of backbone enterprises that produce more than a thousand kinds of products. Over 300 kinds of quality products sell in 42 countries and regions in the world.

Yanbian has rich resources. Its unique geographical superiority is the focus of the world attention. Hunchun City has been approved by the State Council as a border open city and Yanji City, Dunhua City, Tumen City and Antu County have been listed by Jilin Province as economic development zones. The United Nations Development Programme has coordinated its neighboring countries to jointly open up the region on the lower reaches of the Tumen River. The whole prefecture has been opened up to the outside world at all spheres and its investment environment is improving increasingly.

Communication. A communication network of land, sea and air has been formed. The highways of 34706 km connect the prefecture with Koean and Russia as well as the inside and outside of the prefecture. The passenger capacity on Yanji Highway Stopping Station is one of the largest in the Northeast. The Tumen-Hunchun Railway will be soon completed. The over 160- km-long Sino-Russian Port Railway enters Russia through Hunchun and directly leads to Zhalubinor Port. It is the second important one in Yanbian linking rails with a foreign country. The expanded Yanji Airport can handle medium-sized airplanes which fly directly to large and medium-sized cities in China, soon will to Japan, the Republic of Korea, HongKong and other countries and regions in the world. Going down the Tumen River for 15 kilometers from Fangchuan Village in Hunchun, one can reach the Sea of Japan. It is the only passage from China to the Sea of Japan.

Telecommunications. The program-controlled telephones of the prefecture has been basically popularized and been connected with the national automatic telecommunication network. Now direct calls can be made to 197 countries and regions in the world and 1896 cities in China.

Water and electrical power. The prefecture has 13 water works, supplying 374.77 million tons of water annually. A number of hydro-electrical stations with the Yushuchuan, Longjing, and Hunchun as the mainstay, generate over 2.4 billion KWh of electricity every year. At the same time, a number of power plants are being built and expanded.

Culture. The prefecture has 104 scientific research organs, a comprehensive university composed of eight colleges, 80 adult education centres and secondary vocational and technical schools. For every0.1 million people, 3,037 have a cultural level above college for professional training, which is three times more of the national average rate and ranks first in China's minority regions.