XUZHOU lies in the northwestern part of Jiangsu Province and borders on the provinces of Shandong,Henan and Anhui. The city has a population of 9.019 million and occupies an area of 11258 sq. km with two county-level cities,four counties and five urban districts under its jurisdiction. In accordance with the Jiangsu provincial key construction planning,Xuzhou is among the four provincial extra large cities,one of the centers of the three city circles,and one of the regional central cities in Huaihai Economic Zone.

The Open Economy of Xuzhou has developed rapidly,and the International Exchange and Cooperation have exploited all-around. Now there are 1 national private Science&Technoloy park,3 provincial development zones and 7 municipal development zones in Xuzhou. There have been more than 1700 foreign-invested enterprises and the actually utilized volume of foreign investment is US$1.633 billion. Many world famous corporations such as Caterpillar,Liebherr,ArvinMeritor,Thyssenkrupp,Saint-Gobain and Hoechst have set up their enterprises in Xuzhou. Foreign investment flows to more than 30 fields including machinery,electronics,metallurgy,chemicals,light industry and textile,forming a group of exlrort-oriented industries and prrodults. China Resources (Xuzhou) Electric Power Co.,Ltd.,Xuzhou VV Food & Beverage Co.,Ltd. and Caterpillar (Xuzhou) Co.,Ltd. are listed among the Top 500 foreign-funded enterprises. 19 categories of over 200 kinds of products are exported to 39 countries and regions such as Europe,U.S.,Southeast Asia,and Middle East. Some of the exported products such as construction machinery,auto cassette recorder,galvanized steel pipe,textile,garment,silk,leather suitcase,craft articles,frozen pork,aquacultural products and canned vegetables and fruits enjoy high reputation and are very popular in the international market. Xuzhou has established sister city relations with over 10 foreign cities including Saint Aedon of France,Handa of Janpan,Newwax of the U.S.,Bochum of Germany,Leoban of Australia and Great Dandenong of Australia etc.

XUZHOU has distinct advantage in its investment environment and transportation,and has long been known as the "thoroughfare to the five provinces" as a national key transportation hub. Xuzhou has formed a modern network of highway,railway,waterway,civil aviation and transportation. Xuzhou,which has preferable industrial base and feasuring agricultural products,has become an important national production and export base for agricultural products. Xuzhou is rich in mineral resources and has large reserves of more than 30 kinds of high-grade mineral resources. It is one of the areas,which are not only rich in resources kinds,but also have complex advantages . Xuzhou is powerful in its machinery,foodstuff,chemicals,electronics and medicine industry. Three enterprises,namely,Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group,V V Group and Datun Coal Power Company rank among the national top 500 enterprises. The output of over 50 industrial products,such as track crane,road roller and auto cassette recorder takes the leading place in the country or in the province. Xuzhou's service sector is also developing vigorously. The urban and rural markets are quite active. The pattern of "Big market,Large circulation and Big trade" has been formed there. Xuzhou,,which possesses five academicians with Chinese Academy of Engineering ,and occupies front rank in Jiangsu province for its total numbers of qualified personnel,has strength in science and technology. Xuzhou,which is provided with splendid historical culture and beautiful natural landscapes,is the originated place to represent Han Dynasty Culture. The combination of "National Historical Cultural City","Excellent Chinese Tourism City" and "Modern Ecological Garden City" has been primarily formed. The superior investment environment has created an atmosphere of "pro-business,Enriching Businessmen,stablizing Businessmen and Respecting Businessmen" and formed Xuzhou a new image of "Honesty and Credit",which makes it a vigorous hot land for investment from both home and abroad.

Xulian (Xuzhou-Lianyungang) economic zone is located in a superior geographical position,connecting eastern costal areas with the Longlan economic zone. Xulian economic zone,which is an important tie of Bohai bay and Yangtse River Delta,connects with Shanghai and Nanjing in the south Beijing and Tianjin in the north,Janpan and South Korea in the east and the Central Plains in the west,The traffic in this region developed very well. There are two ports,namely,Xuzhou port and Lianyungang port; two railway hubs,namely,Xuzhou and Xinyi and two airports of Guanyin and Baitabu. Also there are four national expressways,namely,Lianhuo expressway,Jinghu expressway,Jingfu expressway and Tongsan expressway. This zone,which is rich in natural resources,is one of resourceful and better assembled areas in East-China Region. It is an important national base of agricultural products,and has a large reserve of various mineral resources,such coal,iron,salt,gypsum,limestone,marble and quartz,and also rich in electric power. At the end of the tenth "Five-year Plan",the installed capacity will reach 10 MKW. The Xulian economic zone has abundant labor resources,and it is comparatively advantageous in developing resource and labor-intensive industry.

With Xuzhou and Lianyungang as the core city and the central cities including Xinyi as the pivots,the Xulian economic zone will be gradually developed into an industry-gathery zone,cities and towns inten sive zone export-oriented economic zone and a demonstration zone of sustainable development,through attracting investment from home and abroad,constructing industrial gardens,constructing carrier and platform for gathering essential factors of production,accelerating industrial development and advancing the course of industrialization.