Harbin: The Capital of Heilogjang Province in Horthestern China

Harbin

Harbin is the capital and biggest city of Heilongjiang province in Northeastern China. Historically, it has played a major role in the trade between China and neighboring Russia. The city’s strategic location and abundant resources has made it the administrative, economic, industrial, cultural, educational and transportation center of Northeastern China.

Covering an area of 53,796 square kilometres, Harbin lies along the Songhua River near the edge of the Songnen Plain in the southern part of Heilongjiang province. It is bordered by the Yichun, Qitahe, Jiamusu and Suihua prefectures to the north, Daqing to the west and Mudanjiang prefecture and Jilin province to the south.

Harbin’s climate is classified as mid-temperate continental monsoon which is characterized by hot humid summers and very cold winters (with little precipitation) that can last up to 5 months of the year. Overnight temperatures can reach -40 degrees Celsius.

The metropolitan region consists of six districts. Additional jurisdictions are two more districts, seven counties and three county-level cities.

Population

As of 2009, Harbin had a population of 9.92 million people composed mainly of Han Chinese with sizable numbers of Manchu and Mongols. Foreign expatriates from Russia, Japan and Korea also live in Harbin. The widely-spoken language is the Harbin dialect, a variety of Mandarin with Russian and Manchurian influences. English is also continuing to grow as a language of business in Harbin. Harbin is a cultural melting pot which has been proven an advantage for its economic prospects.

Education

The city has 48 tertiary educational institutions with an estimated 615,000 students. There are 20 post-graduate institutions with 45,000 enrolees and ...

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...d to oversee service outsourcing in the city. The local government has incorporated into its 11th Five-Year Plan for Social and Economic Development many major policies that will support the service outsourcing industry. These include Preferential Policies on Promoting Development of Service Outsourcing and the Plan for Harbin Service Outsourcing Training.

The Harbin government has allocated special development funds for service outsourcing, loans and tax breaks, human resource training, research and development incentives and projects to gain international certifications. Policies governing locators in industrial parks such as the Harbin Economic and Technological & Hi-tech Development Zone have also been updated to extend subsidies and incentives to companies. A special fund for projects made by the software service outsourcing industry has also been secured.