Business environment in Ordos

Overview of Ordos

Ordos, together with Hohhot and Baotou, is part of the "golden triangle" in the economic development of the autonomous region. Its main economic indicators are leading the whole region and positioned at the forefront of China's western regions. A prominent American consulting firm estimates that Ordos is one of the few locations in the world best suited for developing energy-intensive industries. In accordance with national planning, Ordos continues to place great emphasis on developing "Five bases” — a clean energy output base, a modern coal chemical production demonstration base, an aluminum industry and equipment manufacturing base, a green agricultural and animal products processing output base and a tourism base.

In 2016, the Ordos economy developed steadily, achieving a regional GDP of 441.8 billion yuan($66.6 billion),an increase of 7.3percent over the previous year. The city's per capita GDP ranked first in the region, reaching 215,500 yuan ($32,453), an increase of 6.8 percent.

Resource advantages

Wool

The annual wool and cashmere outputs in Ordos are 9,000 tons and 1,700 tons. The cashmere fiber has good elasticity, length, fineness, whiteness and luster and enjoys great popularity among foreign traders. The Chinese household name Erdos is an apparel brand that originated in the city. One third of China’s cashmere products come from Ordos, and its output accounts for a quarter of the world's total. Therefore, the city is known as the "Cashmere Capital" of China and has become a world-class hub for the industry.

Coal

Seventy percent of Ordos has coal reserves, the number one rank among prefecture-level cities in China. The city's proved reserves of coal surpass 193 billion tons, accounting for half and one sixth of those of the autonomous region and the country respectively. Total coal reserves are estimated at 1,000 billion tons. The coal is a rare high caloric thermal coal with low ash, low phosphorus and low sulfur.

Soil

The 7.12 million ton Kaolin clay reserves in Ordos are of high quality and high concentration. Kaolin is the best raw material for porcelain and is comparable to the clay of Jingdezhen, China's Porcelain Capital.

Gas

Ordos's Sulige Gasfield is by far the largest in China. It is a pivot city of China's west-east gas transmission project and has proven natural gas reserves of 2,650 billion cubic meters, one third of the country's total.

Wind

Wind energy is evenly distributed in Ordos with good continuity and stability. Average effective wind power density is 150-200 watts/sq m, and the total amount of wind energy resources can reach about 10 million kilowatts, which is suitable for developing super large wind farms.

Sunlight

The city's annual average sunshine duration is 2,763 to 3,166 hours and its annual average solar radiation exceeds 1,700 kilowatt-hours per sq m.

The long sunshine duration and high water level on the ground make Ordos suitable for developing photovoltaic solar power generation projects.

Finance

Pudong Development Bank, China Merchants Bank, Huaxia Bank, China Citic Bank, Minsheng Bank and the Industrial Bank have opened branches in the city. Emerging financial service providers such as equity and futures enterprises have also settled in Ordos.

There are 44 banking institutions, 30 insurance companies, seven brokerage offices, two futures business offices, 92 small-credit firms and 34 financing guarantee companies. Ordos was awarded the honorary title of "Financial Ecological City in China".

The completed urban area has expanded to 258.5 sq km from 138 sq km in 2005. The urbanization rate has reached 72.8 percent, 18 percentage points higher than the national average. Ordos vows to grow into a modern and livable city with a favorable business environment.

Tourism

As a "Top Tourist City of China", Ordos boasts national 5A-level and 4A-level attractions like the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan Tourist Area (5A), the Resonant Sand Gorge(5A), the Seven-star Lake and the Engebei Tourist Area, as well as 47 national industrial and agricultural tourism demonstration sites.

There are two national 5A Scenic Areas, 21 4A Scenic Areas, 11 3A Scenic Areas, 32 star-rated hotels and 93 travel agencies.

Transportation

Roads

The total highway mileage in Ordos is 18,820 kilometers, including 2,213 km of high-grade surfacing.

Railways

There are 1,667 km of railways in Ordos. Their total annual freight handling is 350 million tons. A group of new railways like the Baotou-Xi'an, Dongsheng-Wuhai, and Jungar-Dongsheng lines have been put into service and others are under construction.

The construction of the Mengxi-Huazhong Railway is progressing and preparatory work on the Baotou-Xi'an railway line for passenger traffic has begun.

Aviation

The city's Ejin Horo Airport is located 16km southeast of Kangbashi New Area, at the junction of the Baotou-Maoming Expressway and Azhen town - Daliu town Highway.

The airport has 42 air routes to 41 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. It handled about 1.50 million passengers and 7,000 tons of cargo in 2014.

Electricity

By the end of 2014, Ordos had formed a power supply network with a 500kV supportive transmission line, a 220kV backbone line and a 110kV branch line. Installed electric power capacity was 15.6 million kV.

Internet and telecommunication

The city has realized full Internet coverage and has one of the most convenient telecommunication systems in China.

Water

The total water volume in Ordos is about 2.85 billion cu m. The average volume of available water resources is 1.47 billion cu m. Together with 700 million cu m of moving water from the Yellow River, the available water resources are about 2.02 billion cu m.

A 728-km section of the Yellow River, one seventh of the river's total length, runs through the city. The average annual transit flux is 30.62 billion cu m.

With the help of some projects, about 230 million cu m of water were redesignated from agricultural use to industrial use. In the first phase of a water rights transfer project, about 115 million cu m of water was allocated to the city out of the 120 million cu m available.

Human resources

According to incomplete statistics, Ordos had produced 96,000 technicians and other skilled people, including 30,000 highly skilled professionals. A total of 12 organizations were named as training bases for those talents by the authorities of the league, city and the autonomous region.

A public training center for highly specialized talents is under construction.  

Culture

Ordos has a long history and rich culture. Two of the top three most famous epics of the Mongolian ethnic group -- Erdeniin Tobchi and the Mongol Chronicle of Altan Tobchi -- were created in Ordos. The city has a unique cultural mix of history and local customs that include Salawusu culture and Zhukaigou culture. Visitors to Ordos will experience grassland and nomadic culture, the city's bronze ware, sacrificial ceremonies to Genghis Khan, and the traditional culture of the Mongolian ethnic group including its folk dancing and music.

The traditional Ordos wedding, the sacrificial ceremony to Genghis Khan, and four other items have been listed as national-level intangible cultural heritages. There are 14 cultural relicsites under state protection, and the Salawusu relic site was included in a National Archaeological Park protection program.

A group of dances and dramas have won national awards and the Mausoleum of the Genghis Khan Tourist Area and the Resonant Sand Gorge have been named national cultural industry demonstration bases.