Jilin (Chinese: 吉林; pinyin: Jílín; Wade–Giles: Chi-lin, IPA: [tɕǐlǐn] ( listen); Postal map spelling: Kirin), is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west. The name was transliterated to Kirin before standardization to pinyin.
 
The name "Jilin" probably originates from Girin ula Manchu term meaning "along the river"; this was transcribed into Jilin wula (T: 吉林烏拉 / S: 吉林乌拉) in Chinese, then shortened to Jilin.[1] The literal meaning of the Chinese characters for "Jilin" is "auspicious forest".

In 2011, the nominal GDP of Jilin province totaled RMB 1053.1 billion (US$167.1 billion). Its GDP has been rising at a double-digit rate since 2003, growing 51 percent from 2003 to 2007. Per capita nominal GDP increased to RMB 26,289 (US$3,848) in 2009. Meanwhile, the incremental value and profit of large enterprises witnessed an increase of 19 percent and 30 percent respectively, compared with 2005 figures.
 
Jilin's agricultural production is centered upon rice, maize, and sorghum. Rice is mostly cultivated in the eastern parts, such as Yanbian Prefecture. The Changbai Mountains are an important source of lumber. Herding of sheep is an important activity in the western parts, such as Baicheng.
 
Among its natural resources, Jilin has the largest reserves of shale oil and one of the top five largest mineral reserves in all of China[5] Compared to other provinces of China, Jilin has extensive deposits of Kieselguhr, wollastonite, floatstone, and molybdenum.
 
Industry in Jilin is concentrated on automobiles, train carriages, and iron alloy.
 
Jilin is one of the most important commodity grain bases in China. Ranked 6th in timber production[4] Traditionally, Jilin has been known as a major pharmaceutical center, with yields of ginseng and deer antlers among the largest in China, being used extensively in Traditional Chinese medicine 
 
Economic and technological development zones

 Jilin New and Hi-tech Industry Development Zone

The zone was founded in 1992 and is located in Jilin city, covering 818 square kilometres (316 sq mi) of planned area with 242 square kilometers already established. The leading industries in the zone are new materials, refined chemical products, integration of photoelectron and mechanism, electronics, medicine and bioengineering. A mere 14 km away from Songhua Lake, the nearest bus and train stations are located within 3 km.
 
The Jilin Economic and Technological Development Zone was founded in May 1998 and is situated in the northeast of Jilin city. The zone has a total planned area of 28 square kilometres (11 sq mi). It is located 90 kilometres (56 mi) from Changchun, five kilometers from Jilin Airport, and eight kilometers from Jilin Railway Station. Major industries include refined chemicals, bioengineering, fine processing of chemical fiber, and farm products. It is divided into four parts, namely, the Chemical Industrial Park, the Food Industrial Park, the Textile Industrial Park and the Medical Industrial Park. The latter specializes in the development of traditional Chinese pharmaceuticals, mini molecule medicine, bio-pharmaceuticals and health products.
 
Other zones include:

 State-level ETDZs Changchun Economic and Technological Development Zone

In 1993, with the approval of the state, Changchun Economic & Technological Development Zone (CETDZ) became a state-level economic and technological development zone. The total area of CETDZ is 112.72 km2 (43.52 sq mi), of which 30 km2 (12 sq mi) has been set aside for development and utilization. By the end of 2006, the total fixed assets investment of Changchun economic and technological development zone reached 38.4 billion Yuan. There are 1656 registered enterprises in this zone including 179 foreign-funded enterprises. The regional gross product of the zone reached 101.8 billion Yuan; industrial output value reached 233.0 billion Yuan; overall financial revenue reached 15.7 billion Yuan.

 State-level HIDZs Changchun High-Tech Industrial Development Area

Changchun High-Tech Industrial Development Area is connected by four roads and one light-rail to the downtown area. The nearest train station, Changchun Station, is twenty minutes away by light rail. In 2002, Changchun HDA became the first park in North-East China to qualify for the environmental certification of ISO14001. Its landscaping ratio reaches 38%.

 Hunchun Border Economic Cooperation Zone

Huichun Border Economic Cooperation Zone was approved to be national-level border economic cooperation zone in 1992, with a planning area of 24 km2 (9.3 sq mi). In 2002 and 2001, Huichun Export Processing Zone and Huichun Sino-Russia Trade Zone was set up in it. Being located in the junction of China, Russia and Korea, it enjoys strategic location. The infrastructures are available. It focuses on the development of sea food processing, electronic product manufacture, bio-pharmacy, textile industry and other industry.

 Hunchun Export Processing Zone
 Infrastructure
 
There are 35,216 kilometers of highways, including over 500 kilometers of expressways. The province has an excellent rail network, originally built by the Japanese, with Changchun as its main hub. There are four major new railway projects which started construction in 2007. They will include the middle section of a massively invested north-south railway trunk line connecting Harbin and Dalian, and a 96.5 kilometer inter-city railway line from Changchun, capital city of Jilin province, and Jilin city. The four railway projects are estimated to cost RMB13 billion and the province is urging foreign investors to invest in the new project. The Changchun-Jilin line, expected to be completed in 2010, will cut the journey times between the cities from the current 96 minutes to 30.
 
The only commercial airport is Changchun International Airport, other non-commercial airports are Jilin Airport, Yanji Airport and Tonghua Liuhe Airport.
 
Jilin is landlocked. However, river navigation is possible from April to November. The major river ports are at Da'an, Jilin city and Fuyu. In 2007, Jilin started construction on a two-phase RMB60 million comprehensive river port; the first phase of this is finished. The port is located on the Songhua River and has an annual throughput of two million tons and will connect to the waterways of Northeast China.