Shangqiu

The ancient town of Shangqiu city. [Photo/Provided to dahe.cn]

Bordering Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui, Shangqiu covers an area of 10,704 square kilometers and administers 1 county-level city, 6 counties and 2 districts with a permanent resident population of 7,816,831 (the 7th national census).

Shangqiu is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization, the first capital of the Shang Dynasty and the cradle of Shang civilization. The ancient city of Shangqiu is one of the four best-preserved ancient cities in China. The jade burial suit unearthed from the royal tombs of the Liang State at Mount Mangdang, Yongcheng City, was recognized as one of the ten latest discoveries of Chinese archaeology in 1991.

Shangqiu is richly endowed with resources, among which 17 kinds of mineral resources are proven, accounting for 16% of the total 106 resources proven in Henan. The reserve of the newly-proven coal field ranging from Tongxu County to Zhecheng County totals 23 billion metric tons, being the largest coal field proven so far in Henan. Shangqiu is a National Grain Production Core Demonstration Area with an annual yield of over 6 billion kilograms, accounting for one tenth of the total grain production in Henan.

Shangqiu is a national comprehensive transportation hub and one of the 66 regional logistics nodes in China. Beijing-Kowloon Railway intersects Lianyungang-Lanzhou Railway in Shangqiu with the crisscrossed networks of National Highway 310 and 105, and Jinan-Guangzhou and Lianyungang-Horgos expressways. Zhengzhou-Xuzhou High-speed Railway has been completed and open to traffic. The construction of Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou High-speed Railway is in progress and Beijing-Kowloon High-speed Railway has been regarded as the priority project of national-level high-speed railway construction.

Shangqiu has established the sister city relationship with Greater Shepparton City of Australia.