Ordos, located in central and western Inner Mongolia, spans 87,000 sq km, and governs seven banners and two districts with a combined population of 2.2 million. It's pivotal in the national Hohhot-Baotou-Ordos-Yulin urban plan and vital for ecological protection in the Yellow River Basin.
Ordos has a strong economy. In 2022, it achieved a regional GDP of 561.3 billion yuan, with a 5.4 percent growth, ranking 45th among the nation's prefecture-level cities.
Its general public budget revenue soared by 52.7 percent, fixed asset investment increased by 25.4 percent, and the value added of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 8.4 percent.
In the first half of 2023, the city's GDP rose by 7.1 percent, with fixed asset investment up by 46.3 percent, and the value added of industrial enterprises above designated size increasing by 5.5 percent. Its total retail sales of social consumer goods also grew by 7 percent, with general public budget revenue up by 12.8 percent.
Ordos boasts outstanding resources, with proven reserves of coal and natural gas accounting for 1/6 and 1/3 of the national total, respectively. The potential for wind and solar energy development is over 1.4 billion kilowatts.
It is one of the 14 large coal bases, nine large coal-fired power bases, and four modern coal chemical industry demonstration zones in the country. It is an important base for transporting coal from the northern part of China to the south, transmitting electricity from the west to the east, and transmitting gas from the west to the east.
In 2022, its coal sales reached 840 million tons, accounting for 1/5 of the national total; 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas were produced, and 40.31 million kilowatts of power capacity were installed, with its modern coal chemical production capacity reached nearly 20 million tons.
Ordos is accelerating its transformation. The new energy industry chain of "wind-solar-hydrogen storage vehicles" is developing rapidly. A 348 million kilowatt new energy project has started construction. Over 50 new energy equipment manufacturing projects with investments of over 100 million yuan each have been introduced.
The city ranks among the top 40 in the Hurun China New Energy Industry Agglomeration City list, with its new energy investment attractiveness index ranking second in the country.
Innovative work in talent and technology has been fruitful, with the approval to construct a national sustainable development agenda innovation demonstration zone in place, the operation of the Ordos Energy Research Institute of Peking University, and the arrival of the Mine Harmony Industrial Internet Innovation National Key Laboratory.
The Ordos Laboratory jointly established with Tsinghua University has been approved to be built into the largest talent and technology innovation center in the northwest region.
Ordos has a favorable development environment and is known as a "city of diverse landscapes", with two national 5A-class scenic spots and 28 4A-class scenic spots. It has a total railway operating mileage of 2700 kilometers, as well as high-grade highways of 2909 kilometers, and has been approved to build a production-service national logistics hub and a pilot network for air transport services.
The city has established comprehensive bonded zones, international airports, and other open platforms. Its urbanization rate is 78.1 percent, the green coverage rate in urban built-up areas is 41.7 percent, the forest coverage rate is 27.4 percent, and the air quality rate is over 90 percent.
For three consecutive years, it has ranked first in the region's business environment assessment and has been recognized as China's most attractive city for investment and one of the top ten cities in China for investment environment quality.
Additionally, Ordos offers top-tier public services in education, culture, healthcare, and social governance, earning such accolades as the National Health City and one of the happiest cities in China.
