Kunming:

Kūnmíng (Chinese: 昆明, UN/LOCODE: CNKMG) is the capital and largest city of Yunnan (云南) Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou (云南府, Yúnnánfǔ) until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government. It is also home to several universities, museums, galleries and other important economic, cultural, and educational institutions. The headquarters of many of Yunnan's large businesses are in Kunming as well. It was important during World War II as a Chinese military center, American air base, and transport terminus for the Burma Road. Located in the middle of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Kunming is located at an altitude of 1,900 m above sea level and at a latitude just north of the Tropic of Cancer. It covers an area of 21,473 square kilometres (8,291 sq mi) and its urban area covers 2,081 km2 (803 sq mi). Kunming has population of 6,432,212 including 3,055,000 in the urban area and is located at the northern edge of the large Lake Dian, surrounded by temples and lake-and-limestone hill landscapes.
 
Kunming consists of an old, previously walled city, a modern commercial district, residential and university areas. The city has an astronomical observatory, and its institutions of higher learning include Yunnan University, Yunnan Normal University and a medical college. On the outskirts is a famed bronze temple, dating from the Ming dynasty.
 
Its economic importance derives from its geographical position. Positioned near the border with Southeastern Asian countries, serving as a transportation hub in Southwest China, linking by rail to Vietnam and by road to Burma and Laos. This positioning also makes it an important trade center in this region of the nation. It also houses some manufacturing, chiefly copper, though some other chemicals, machinery, textiles, paper and cement take key. Though having a nearly 2,400 year history, its modern prosperity dates only from 1910, when the railroad from Hanoi was built. The city has continued to develop rapidly under China's modernization efforts. Kunming's streets have widened while office buildings and housing projects develop at a fast pace. Kunming has been designated a special tourism center and as such sports a proliferation of high-rises and luxury hotels.

Kunming has 3 economic advantages over many other cities in southwest China: significant natural resources, a big local consumer market and a mild climate. Kunming's economy was ranked 12th of Chinese cities in 1992. Due to its position at the center of Yunnan, one of China's largest producers of agricultural products, minerals and hydroelectricity, Kunming is the main commercial hub for most of the province's resources.
 
Kunming's chief industries are copper, lead and zinc production. Its iron and steel industry has been expanded. Salt and phosphate mines around Kunming are some of the largest in China. Yunnan Copper Company Limited, based in Kunming, is one of Yunnan's largest mining corporations. From the late 1970s, Kunming's main industries also came to include food and tobacco processing and the manufacture of construction equipment and machines.
 
In May 1995, the State Council approved Kunming as an Open City. By the end of 1995, the city had approved 929 overseas-funded enterprises with a total investment of $2.3 billion dollars including $1.1 billion dollars of foreign capital. More than 40 projects each had an investment of more than $9 million dollars.
 
Kunming is a center of engineering and the manufacture of machine tools, electrical machinery, equipment and automobiles (including heavy goods vehicles). It has a chemical industry, and plastics, cement works and textile factories. Its processing plants, which include tanneries, woodworking and papermaking factories, use local agricultural products. In 1997, Yunnan Tire Co. opened a tire plant in Kunming, with a capacity to produce two million tires per year.
 
Because of its location in the southwest of China, Kunming missed out on China's rapid economic growth in the 1990s. However, the city has recently received renewed attention, becoming an international commercial hub for South and Southeast Asia. The Kunming economic authorities are participants in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), promoting trade throughout China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. Several railroads and highways have been planned to connect Kunming to areas of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, providing access to seaports.
 
In 2006, the Chinese government approved a 2912 km oil pipeline to be built from the Indian Ocean coastal town of Sittwe, Myanmar to Kunming. This pipeline will carry African and Middle Eastern petroleum to China, bypassing some oil shipments through the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea. The pipeline will cut oil transport time by two weeks. In addition, Kunming is also said to be the site for an oil refinery for the incoming oil.
 
Development zones
 
Kunming has two major development zones, Kunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone (biological medicine, new materials, electronic information, photoelectron, agriculture) and Kunming Economic and Technology Development Zone (mechanical equipment production, biological science and food industry, information industry, software).
 Kunming Economic & Technology Development Zone First established in 1992, Kunming Economic & Technology Development Zone is a national-level zone approved by State Council. Kunming is located in east-central Yunnan province with preferential location. After several years' development, the zone has formed its pillar industries, which include tobacco processing, machinery manufacturing, electronic information, and biotechnology.[23] Kunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone The Kunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone (KMHNZ), is a state-level high-tech industrial zone established in 1992 to the northwest of downtown Kunming. It is administratively part of Kunming City. It has covers an area of 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi). KMHNZ is located in the northwest part of Kunming city, with 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Kunming Railway Station, and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Kunming Wujiaba International Airport.

Industrial parks
 
There are 30 key industrial parks promulgated and recognized by National Development and Reform Commission in Yunnan Province.
 
The largest include:
 Chenggong Industrial Park
 Anning Industrial Park
 Songming Yanglin Industrial Development Zone
 Dongchuan Special Industrial Park
 Xundian Special Industrial Park
 Kunming Haikou Industrial Park
 
Statistics
 
For the fiscal year of 2009,
 Kunming's gross domestic product (GDP) was 180.9 billion yuan;
 Fixed asset investment was 160.1 billion yuan;
 Real estate investment was 36.9 billion yuan;
 Retail sales was 86.5 billion yuan;
 Per capita disposable income within Kunming's urban areas grew to 16,496 yuan;
 Kunming's average farmer outside of the city earned 5,080 yuan.