Long known as a "land of fish and rice" and the "home of silk", Jiaxing is a nationalcommodity grain base and one of Zhejiang's important production bases for farm andsideline products. The amount of the commodity grain supplied by the city accounts for 20% of the province's total; Its output of freshwater fish ranks second in the province; Its output of silkworm cocoon constitutes over 50% of the province's total ; and its output of white steam filature accounts for 40% of the province's total and 20% of the nation's total.

Jiaxing has a sound base of industry. Now an industrial system complete with a fairly variety of branches including silk, wool, mechanical, chemical, paper and electronic industries has been established. Its knit, silk and leather garments have been renowned both at home and abroad. Jiaxing also boast quite a few of products of some repute, such as wool fabric, industrial technological paper and refrigerator compressor.

Jiaxing enjoys fast and convenient communications. The Shanghai-Hangzhou double-tracking railways traverse the territory. The Shanghai-Hang- zhou Expressway which will be open to traffic at the end of 1998 has five exits in Jiaxing area. Port Zhapu, which is 40 kilometers away from the city proper, enjoys uniquely favorable sea-and-river coordina ted transport facilities. It was accepted as a first-grade state port open to the outside world. Traversed by the Grand Canal, Jiaxing has a crisscross network of inland waterways . Advanced management has been employed in its highway system. Jiaxing is becoming a communications hub connecting Zhejiang with Shanghai, Jiangsu and Anhui.

Jiaxing boasts of smooth telecommunications facilities and rich energy resources. The "East China Power Base" has taken shape. In the area, there is the first nuclear power station designed by China, Qiushan Nuclear Power Plant, whose installed capacity of nuclear power will reach 3 million kilowatts at the beginning of the next century. The Jiaxing Power Plant is to be built into one with an installed capacity of 4.2 million kilowatts.

In 1997, Jiaxing was designated by the state as a pilot city for optimizing the investment structure. As a result, the Qianjiang Biochemical Co., Ltd was listed at Shanghai Securit ies Exchange; Zhejiang Mozhihua Group was chosen as an enterprise prepared to be listed for issuing shares in foreign currency (B shares); Minfeng Paper Mill, Zhongbao Daimengde Company and Jingxing Paper Industrial Co. are striving to be listed. Mea nwhile, a batch of high-tech projects producing high-grade quality products with high added value were introduced to the city, like projects producing automobile radical tire and inner tube, stainless steel standard components and cable-to-cable connecting wires as well as petrochemicals processing projects, thus having filled in the gaps in the sectors of industry and promoted the adjustment in the industrial structure. By the end of 1997, a total of 1,450 foreign-invested enterprises and joint ventures were approved for establishment, involving a contracted foreign inv stment of 1.676 billion US dollars with USD 499 million being actually invested. Among them are 51% projects with investment over USD 10 million. Across the city there are altogether 7 provincial-level economic development zones. Last year, a high-tech park was approved by the provincial government of Zhejiang to be established in Jiaxing.