Urumqi Economy

Ürümqi is a major industrial center within Xinjiang. Ürümqi, together with Karamay and Bayin'gholin account for 64.5% of the total industrial output of Xinjiang. Ürümqi is also the largest consumer center in the region, recording ¥32.2 billion retail sales of consumer goods in 2007, an increase of 18.24% from 2006. The GDP per capita exceeded US$4,000 in 2007. According to statistics, Urumqi ranked 7th in 2007 by the disposable income for urban residents among cities in Western China. Ürümqi has been a central developmental target for the China Western Development project that the Central Government is pursuing.

The Urumqi Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Fair is held annually since 1991, whose purpose is to promote domestic and foreign markets. The 17th Fair is seeing participants from the Ministry of Commerce and the China Council for Promotion of International Trade.

Partial panorama of Urumqi at dusk, April 2008

As the economic center, Urumqi has expanded its urban area since the 1990s. The CBDs in the city increase rapidly all around the major districts. Zhong Tian Plaza, located in one of the CBDs in North Xinhua Road, is the tallest building in Urumqi and Xinjiang; with a height of 229 meters, it is also the tallest in Northwestern China and Central Asia. Lacking in subway, the outer ring road for the city was built in 2003, which considerably facilitates transportation. Zhongshan Road (Sun Yat-sen Road) in Urumqi has been one of the 10 most famous commercial streets in the People's Republic of China since 2005 through official appraisals, the others being Wangfujing, etc. The Commercial Street of Zhongshan Road has the largest computer, mobile phone and consumer electronics market, i.e. Baihuacun, Cyber Digital Plaza and Fountain Plaza, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; it is believed to be the focal point of technological products in Urumqi.

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