Wuhan

China COUNTRY

8,364,977 CITY POPULATION

Sub Provincial City GOVERNMENT TYPE

Introduction

Wuhan is the capital of Hubei, province of China, and the most populous city in central China. As of 2015, the city of Wuhan had an estimated population of 10,607,700 people.

Wuhan developed after being declared a treaty port following the Opium Wars of the 19th century. It grew further with the arrival of the railway and China's first modern iron and steel plants in 1891.

The city is located at the confluence of the Han and Yangtze rivers. It is called the triple city as it is the conurbation of three adjacent former cities that were merged by the Government in 1949: Hankou, Hanyang and Wuchang.

The triple city of Wuhan has a geographical centrality that gives it immense strategic and commercial significance. Despite being 970km from the sea, the port handles many ocean-going vessels.

Wuhan is considered the political, economic, financial, commercial, cultural, and educational center of Central China standing out because of its cotton and textiles, iron, steel, heavy machinery, cement, and soap industries.

In regards its climate, Wuhan has a subtropical monsoon climate with abundant rainfall and four distinct seasons. Wuhan is by far the hottest of the Four Furnaces; the average temperature in July is 37.2°C, and the maximum often exceeds 40°C.

Data and Facts

According to a survey published in 2017, 79.2% of the population of Wuhan are either irreligious or practice worship of gods and ancestors; among these 0.9% are Taoists. Among other religious doctrines, 14.7% of the population adheres to Buddhism, 2.9% to Protestantism, 0.3% to Catholicism and 1.6% to Islam, and 1.6% of the population adheres to unspecified other religions.
Wuhan natives speak a dialect of Southwestern Mandarin Chinese.
Because of its hot summer weather, Wuhan is known as one of the Four Furnaces of China, along with Nanjing, Nanchang and Chongqing.

At Wuchang you can find East Lake, the largest lake within a city in China.
Currency: CNY, Renminbi.
GDP as 2018, US$224.28 billion; US$ 20,960 per capita.

Administration

Wuhan is a sub provincial city. The municipal government is regulated by the local Communist Party of China (CPC) led by the Wuhan CPC secretary, Wang Zhonglin.

The local CPC issues administrative orders, collects taxes, manages the economy, and directs a standing committee of the Municipal People's Congress in making policy decisions and overseeing the local government.

Government officials include the major, currently, Zhou Xianwang, and vice-mayors.

The sub-provincial city of Wuhan currently comprises 13 districts, 160 divisions, and 156 sub districts.

Economy

Wuhan is an important center for economy, trade, finance, transportation, information technology, and education in China. Its major industries include optic-electronic, automobile manufacturing, iron and steel manufacturing, new pharmaceutical sector, biology engineering, new materials industry and environmental protection

Up until the 21st century, Wuhan was largely an agricultural region. However, since 2004 it has been a focal point of the Rise of Central China Plan, which aims to build less-developed inland economies into hubs of advanced manufacturing.

Historically the steel industry was the backbone of the city. The iron and steel base attracted other industries producing chemicals, fertilizers, electrical equipment, glass, agricultural machinery, railroad cars, and trucks.

In 2010, automobile industry exceeded GDP for Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation (WISCO) steel for the first time. There are 5 car manufacturers, including Dongfeng Honda, Citroen, Shanghai GM, DFM Passenger Vehicle and Dongfeng Renault.

Wuhan is also one of the largest manufacturers of heavy machine tools in China. Its consumer industries produce watches, bicycles, and radios and other electronic instruments

Wuhan has currently attracted investment from over 80 countries, including 50 French companies like Renault and PSA Group.

It is noted that environmental sustainability is highlighted in Wuhan's list of emerging industries, which include energy efficiency technology and renewable energy

Business and environment

The major industrial zones in Wuhan are the following:

Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone
Wuhan Export Processing Zone
Wuhan Donghu New Technology Development Zone
Wuhan Optical Valley Software Park
Wuhan Biolake

Infrastructure

Bridges

Currently Wuhan has become a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads and expressways passing through the city.

Before the Chang Jiang Bridge was built over the Yangtze River in 1957, carrying the railroad directly across the river between Snake Hill and Turtle Hill, it could take an entire day to ferry railcars across on barges.

The second bridge, named the Wuhan Second Changjiang Bridge, was completed in 1995 and has a length of 1877 m. It was designed to handled 50,000 motor vehicles passing every day.

The Third Wuhan Changjiang Bridge, 3586 m long, was completed in September, 2000. It is expected to serve as a major passage for the future Wuhan Ring Road, enormously easing the city's traffic and aiding local economic development.

Railway and Metro

Wuhan is served by three railway stations located in the boroughs of Hankou and Wuchang and the newly developed area of the East lake. The Railway Hub is managed by China Railway Wuhan Group.

In September, 2004, Wuhan became the sixth Chinese city with a subway system. The first line, (10,2km) with ten stations, is an elevated rail that runs from Huangpu to Zongguan in the downtown area of the Hankou District. The designed minimum interval is only 90 seconds between two trains and it features driverless operation.

During the last decade Wuhan has opened 9 lines in total.

Airports

Wuhan Tianhe International Airport Opened in April of 1995. It is one of the busiest airports in central China and it is located 26km north of Wuhan.
Hannan Municipal Airport is a municipal airport that serves Hannan District. It is the biggest airport in China that only handles general aviation, and the biggest municipal airport in Hubei.
Caidian Municipal Airport is an under-construction airport which will serve Caidian District. The airport began construction on 1 December 2017.

Maritime Transport

Wuhan is a major hub for maritime transport in central China. The Port of Wuhan provide services for the local population and shipping services. The city has also a long history of ferry services.

Technology

Wuhan has been a traditional manufacturing hub for decades but it is also one of the areas promoting modern industrial changes in China.

Wuhan contains three national development zones and four scientific and technological development parks, as well as numerous enterprise incubators, over 350 research institutes, 1470 high-tech enterprises, and over 400,000 experts and technicians.

In 2017, Wuhan was designated as a Creative City by UNESCO, in the field of design. Wuhan is classified as a Beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

Social Wellness and Human Resources

Education

Wuhan is the scientific and educational center of Central China. There are thirty-five higher educational institutions including the well-known Huazhong University of Science & Technology, and Wuhan University.

Wuhan University of Technology is another major national university in the area. Founded in the year 2000, it was merged from three major universities, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan Transportation University and Wuhan Automotive Polytechnic University.

Health

The healthcare in China consists of both public and private medical institutions and insurance programs. About 95% of the population has at least basic health insurance coverage. Despite this, public health insurance generally only covers about half of medical costs

Under the "Healthy China 2020" initiative, China is currently undertaking an effort to cut healthcare costs and the government requires the insurance to cover 70% of costs. The Chinese government is working on providing affordable basic healthcare to all residents by the end of 2020.

On December 2019, a new coronavirus, named Covid -19, was identified in Wuhan and has since then spread globally resulting in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The rapid increase of patients has become a challenge for the health care system worldwide, specially in Wuhan as the epicentre of the disease. China has sent more than 30,000 medical staff to the area among other measures to stop the virus.

Media

The headquarters of Hubei Television are located in Wuchang District. It stands our the Tortoise Mountain TV Tower which is China's first self-developed TV tower, opened in 1986.

The modern newspapers in Wuhan can be dated back to 1866. Chutian Metropolis Daily and Wuhan Evening News are two major local commercial tabloid newspapers. Both of them have entered the list of 100 most widely circulated newspapers of the world.

Music

Han Opera, which is the local opera of Wuhan area, was one of China's oldest and most popular operas. During the late Qing dynasty, Han opera, blended with Hui opera, gave birth to Peking opera, the most popular opera in modern China. Thus Han opera has been called the "mother of Peking opera.

Museums

Wuhan is home to nearly a dozen different museums with a wide variety of focus such as art, warfare and even Chinese erotica. It is worth highlight the Hubei Provincial Museum, which includes many artefacts excavated from ancient tombs, and The Rock and Bonsai Museum that includes a magnificent mounted platybelodon skeleton, many unique and finely figured rocks, a giant quartz crystal and an outdoor garden with miniature trees in the penjing style.

Sports

There are many popular sports in Wuhan such as running, badminton, basketball, table tennis, yoga and swimming. However the most popular sport is football.

Wuhan has a professional football team, Wuhan Zall F.C. that plays in the Chinese Super League.

The Wuhan Gymnasium held the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship and was one of the venues for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

The city has also been the venue for the women's tennis tournament, the Wuhan Open.

Finally, the 7^th Military World Games were hosted in Wuhan in October 2019.