Zhengzhou, the provincial seat of Henan province, is an inland open-up city in China. It is one of the important comprehensive hubs of transportation and communication combining railways, highways, aviation and information. Zhengzhou has distinct industry advantages in respect of textile, machinery, building materials, fire-resistant materials, energy and raw materials and auxiliary substances with metallurgy, foodstuffs, coal and cigarette as the mainstay industries. In 2008, Zhengzhou’s GDP totaled RMB 300.4 billion. The population of permanent residents amounts to 6.97 million with a per capita GDP of RMB 42,900.
With developed commerce and trade, Zhengzhou is one of the 3 pilot commerce and trade centers as designated by the State Council. Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange is the first of its kind set up in China, with its futures products, such as Zhengzhou sugar etc., as the one of the core price indexes in international market. Zhengzhou is the major window of domestic and foreign trade for Henan province. As one of the four big new development areas of state-level, the East New District is the only core CBD development area in the central-west region of China.