Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, has long served as political, economic, scientific and technological, cultural, and educational center for the province. It is because of the numerous springs that Jinan is known as the "City of Springs". With the reform and opening-up policy in China, the city has made great changes in recent years. Jinan is one of "China's 40 excellent cities in terms of investment environment" and one of "China's top 50 cities in terms of comprehensive economic capacity".
Jinan is known as the Spring City in China and the numerous springs make Jinan a famous tourist destination, attracting many tourists from home and abroad.
The city is extending its connections with foreign countries rapidly. It has forged sister-city relationships with 10 cities in nine countries and has established friendly relationships with more than 140 countries and regions. Construction of such infrastructure facilities as Jinan International Airport, the neo Jinan Railway Station, Jinan International Container Distribution Center have provided various convenience for the city's import and export trade.
More than 10 multi-national corporations, including Panasonic, Matsushita, Siemens, Pepsi-Cola and Volvo, have set up successful joint ventures in Jinan. At present, the city has more than 2,500 foreign enterprises in forms of joint ventures, co-operative businesses or foreign-funded enterprises, utilizing about US$ 3 billion in foreign funds.
Jinan boosts many historical sites and cultural relics. Of these points of interest, Daming (Great Light) Lake, Baotu Quan (Jet Spring) and Thousand Buddha Hill are the most famous.
Shandong is well-known for its road construction. It opened its first expressway in December 1993, a 318-kilometer Jinan-Qingdao. Since 1998, the province has made rapid progress in road construction. In the last few years, it has poured more than 60 billion yuan (US$ 7.3 billion) into expressway construction. All the expressways in Shandong are in excellent condition and meet the country's standards. Shandong Province is one of the most economically developed provinces in China. Experts said that since 1998, road construction investments have boosted the local gross domestic product. The expressway network is also considered an economic artery of the province. Statistics show that 90 per cent of Shandong's high-tech zones and industrial parks are located among the expressways. A sound transportation system had helped attract more than 30,000 foreign-funded enterprises by the end of 2003.
