Over these years, Jinan has deepened its friendship with foreign countries. And now it has secured relations of communication and cooperation with more than 100 countries and regions in every area and has secured sister-city relations with 15 foreign cities, including Wakayama, Yamaguchi and Yanai in Japan, Coventry in the United Kingdom, Sacramento in the United States, Regina in Canada, Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, Suwon in South Korea, Nizhny Novgorod in Russia, Vantaa in Finland, Rennes in France, Joondalup in Australia, Augsburg in Germany, Kharkiv in Ukraine and Kfar Saba in Israel.

In 2008, Jinan enjoyed a steady and rapid development, which generated 301.74 billion yuan in GDP, increasing by 13% compared with last year. The high-tech industry is developing rapidly, which yielded 126 billion yuan in GDP in a year, increasing by 25.2%. People’s livelihood continues to improve. The urban residents’ per capita disposable income is 20,802 yuan, increasing by 15.5%; while the farmers’ per capita income is 7180 yuan, increasing 14.0%. As one of the nine financial centers of China, Jinan covers all kinds of financial institutions with sound operation. The whole city’s total revenue has reached 92.26 billion yuan, rising by 20.4% and the general budget income of local finance is 18.6 billion yuan, increasing by 18.5%.

By Cheng Weihong (Shandong Bureau)