Economy

Agriculture in Anhui varies according to the climate zones that the province crosses. To the north of the Huai River, wheat and sweet potatoes are grown, while to the south of the Huai River it is rice and wheat instead.Natural resources of Anhui include iron in Ma'anshan, coal in Huainan, and copper in Tongling. There are industries related to these natural resources (e.g. steel industry at Ma'anshan). One of the famous Anhui-based corporations is the automobile company Chery, which is based in Wuhu.Compared to its more prosperous neighbours to the east, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, Anhui has lagged markedly behind in economic development, with a GDP per capita around one third the level of those two provinces. There is great regional disparity as well, and most of the wealth is concentrated in industrial regions close to the Yangtze River, such as Hefei, Wuhu, and Ma'anshan.Anhui's nominal GDP for 2011 was approximately 1.51 trillion yuan (US$239.8 billion), up 12.9% from 2008 and a per capita of 16,391 yuan (US$2,400). It is considered a mid-size economy in terms of economic output. Anhui's GDP is largely driven by fixed-asset investment, and the province's GDP to FAI ratio as of 2009 was 0.89, the highest in China.[10]Anhui's largest companies include Anhui Conch Cement Company, a producer and distributor of cement, Guoyang Securities Co (SHE: 000728), a financial services provider, and Ma’anshan Iron & Steel, a producer of steel and iron.

Transport

Historically, Anhui's transport network was hampered by the lack of bridges across the Yangtze River, which divides the province into northern and southern regions. The first bridge across the Yangtze in Anhui, the Tongling Yangtze River Bridge was completed in 1995. As of October 2014, Anhui had four bridges across the Yangtze, at Ma'anshan, Wuhu, Tongling, and Anqing.Conventional railways in Anhui include the Beijing–Shanghai Railway, Beijing–Kowloon Railway, and Nanjing–Xi'an Railway that traverse the province north of the Yangtze River and the Nanjing−Tongling Railway, Anhui–Jiangxi Railway and Xuancheng–Hangzhou Railway that run south of the river.High-speed lines include Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, Hefei–Wuhan Passenger Railway and Hefei–Nanjing Passenger Railway.

Politics

The Politics of Anhui Province is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China.The Governor of Anhui (安徽省省长) is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Anhui. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Anhui Communist Party of China Provincial Committee Secretary (安徽省委书记), colloquially termed the "Anhui Party Chief".

Geography

Anhui is quite diverse topographically. The north of the province is part of the North China Plain while the north-central areas are part of the Huai River watershed. Both of these regions are very flat and densely populated. The land becomes more uneven further south, with the Dabie Mountains occupying much of southwestern Anhui and a series of hills and ranges cutting through southeastern Anhui. The Yangtze River finds its way through south Anhui in between these two mountainous regions. The highest peak in Anhui is Lotus Peak, part of Huangshan in southeastern Anhui. It has an altitude of 1873 m.Major rivers include the Huai River in the north and the Yangtze in the south. The largest lake is Lake Chaohu situated in the center of the province, with an area of about 800 km2 (310 sq mi). The southeastern part of the province near the Yangtze River has many lakes as well.As with topography, the province differs in climate from north to south. The north is more temperate and has more clearcut seasons. January temperatures average at around -1 to 2 °C north of the Huai River, and 0 to 3 °C south of the Huai River; in July temperatures average 27 °C or above. Plum rains occur in June and July and may cause flooding.

Demographics

Han Chinese make up the vast majority of the population. The Hui and She nationalities are the two largest minorities.Anhui has a highly unbalanced gender ratio. According to a 2009 study published in the British Medical Journal, in the 1-4 age group, there are 138 boys for every 100 girls, making it among the most unbalanced of provinces in China.

History

The province of Anhui was formed in the 17th century. Before then, there was no coherent concept of "Anhui". In terms of culture, Northern Anhui was firmly a part of the North China Plain together with modern-day Henan province, northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong provinces. Central Anhui was densely populated and constituted mostly of fertile land from the Huai River watershed. In contrast, the culture of Southern Anhui, bordered mostly along the Yangtze, was closer to Jiangxi and southern Jiangsu provinces. The hills of southeastern Anhui formed a unique and distinct cultural sphere of its own.In the 2007 book China Road, author Rob Gifford stated that the Chinese refer to Anhui as a "big agricultural province" (农业大省). According to Gifford, this is an euphemism for a "very poor" area and that people have referred to Anhui as the "Appalachia of China".