Introduction to Wuhan, the Venue of the Forum

As the capital city of Hubei Province, Wuhan has enjoyed a high reputation since ancient times for its advantageous geographical location. This city is known as "the most prosperous place in the Chu region". Its geographical location connects Bashu, Wuyue, Yuzhou and Shaanxi, forming a transportation hub known as "thoroughfare of nine provinces". As a result, Wuhan has become a major military and commercial town in southern China.

Geographical location

Wuhan is located at the center of China's interior, in the eastern part of Hubei Province, at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Han River. Its geographical coordinates are 113°41′ - 115°05′ east longitude and 29°58′ - 31°22′ north latitude. In the plane rectangular coordinate system, the maximum horizontal distance from east to west is 134 kilometers, and the maximum vertical distance from north to south is approximately 155 kilometers. The easternmost point of Wuhan is in Jiangjunshan Village, Xugu Street, Xinzhou District; the westernmost point is in Guoguang Village, Zhurushan Street, Caidian District; the southernmost point is in Junbao Village, Husi Street, Jiangxia District; and the northernmost point is in Lichong Village, Caidian Street, Huangpi District.

 Functional Positioning

Wuhan is the only megacity in Central China, a core city of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and an international metropolis. It holds a significant position in the overall national development. Wuhan focuses on building a "965" modern industrial system led by strategic emerging industries, supported by advanced manufacturing, and with modern service industries as the main body. It promotes the growth of pillar industries, the doubling of strategic emerging industries, and the upgrading of modern service industries, enhancing its functions as a source of industrial innovation, a pioneer in the digital economy, and a model for transformation and upgrading.

Wuhan City deploys its innovation chain around the industrial chain and arranges the industrial chain centered on the innovation chain. With "179" as the key approach, it aims to create "One Center and Three Highlands". This involves planning and constructing the Donghu Science City to high standards, accelerating the construction of seven Hubei laboratories focusing on fields such as photoelectric science and biosecurity, and advancing the planning and implementation of nine major scientific and technological infrastructure projects. The goal is to establish a highland for industrial innovation, a highland for the concentration of innovative talents, and a highland for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

Wuhan City fully leverages its transportation advantage as a thoroughfare connecting nine provinces, strengthens the construction of logistics infrastructure, improves logistics efficiency, reduces logistics costs, and strives to become an important national logistics hub. Simultaneously, it promotes the transformation and upgrading of the commerce and trade industry, fosters and expands new forms of consumption, and enhances Wuhan's position and influence in the national commerce and trade circulation sector. The city also strengthens economic, cultural, scientific, and technological exchanges and cooperation with countries around the world, thereby enhancing its internationalization and openness. Wuhan actively hosts international conferences, exhibitions, competitions, and other events, attracting international organizations and multinational companies to set up headquarters or branches in the city, thus bolstering Wuhan's voice and influence on the international stage.

locational advantage

Wuhan has prominent location advantages, with the integration of "water, land, air, rail, and postal" elements. As an international comprehensive transportation hub, the Beijing-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway and the Yangtze River Economic Belt High-Speed Railway intersect here. Wuhan is within a thousand kilometers of the urban agglomerations in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It can directly reach Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen within 4 hours and has access to over 30 key cities, boasting a high degree of accessibility. The airport logistics hub jointly built by Wuhan and Ezhou has become the largest air cargo center in Central China. In terms of water transportation, in 2023, the cargo throughput of Wuhan Port reached 144 million tons, and the container throughput reached 2.79 million TEUs, ranking among the top ports in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Moreover, Wuhan has been approved as various types of logistics hubs and is a global hub city.

Natural Resources

The landform of Wuhan is a transitional area from the hilly region in southeastern Hubei, through the eastern edge of the Hanjiang Plain, to the low mountains and hills at the southern foot of the Dabie Mountains. The central part is low and flat, surrounded by hills, ridges and mounds in the north and south, with low mountains standing in the north. The areas of low mountains, hills, ridge-mound plains and flat plains in the city account for 5.8%, 12.3%, 42.6% and 39.3% of the total land area respectively. The altitude ranges from 19.2 meters to 873.7 meters, with most of the area below 50 meters. Wuhan has a crisscross network of rivers and is rich in water resources. The water area is 2,217.6 square kilometers, accounting for 26.1% of the city's land area. There are 165 rivers over 5 kilometers in the city, 166 lakes (43 in the urban area), and 277 reservoirs of various types (3 large-sized and 6 medium-sized, with a total capacity of 925 million cubic meters).

Natural Climate

Wuhan City has a north subtropical monsoon (humid) climate, characterized by abundant rainfall throughout the year, sufficient heat, concurrent rainy and hot seasons, concurrent sunny and hot seasons, cold winters and hot summers, and four distinct seasons. The annual average temperature in Wuhan ranges from 15.8°C to 17.5°C, with an extreme maximum temperature of 41.3°C recorded on August 10, 1934, and an extreme minimum temperature of -18.1°C recorded on January 30, 1977. The frost-free period typically lasts from 211 to 272 days annually. The total annual sunshine duration is between 1,810 and 2,100 hours, with an annual total radiation of 104 to 113 kcal/cm². The annual precipitation ranges from 1,150 to 1,450 mm, concentrated mainly from June to August, accounting for about 40% of the annual precipitation.

City Flower

Plum Blossom

Brief History of the City

Wuhan boasts a long history, with early inhabitants dating back to the Neolithic Age. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, it belonged to the State of Chu. Throughout the dynasties such as the Han and the Three Kingdoms, its commercial and military status gradually emerged. It continued to develop during the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, and by the Qing Dynasty, Hankou had become "the most prosperous place in Chu." In modern times, Hankou was opened as a treaty port and became a concession in 1858. The Wuchang Uprising in 1911 sparked the beginning of the Xinhai Revolution, and Wuhan was the center of the National Revolution in 1927. In modern times, Wuhan was liberated in 1949 and became an important industrial and transportation hub. The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge opened to traffic in 1954, contributing to its development. Wuhan was designated as a historic and cultural city in 1986 and approved for the construction of a national central city in 2016.

Administrative Division

Wuhan governs 13 administrative districts, including 7 central districts (Jiang'an District, Jianghan District, Qiaokou District, Hanyang District, Wuchang District, Qingshan District, and Hongshan District) and 6 outer districts (Dongxihu District, Hannan District, Caidian District, Jiangxia District, Huangpi District, and Xinzhou District). Additionally, there are 3 national-level development zones: Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Development Zone, Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone, and Wuhan Lingkonggang Economic and Technological Development Zone.

Population composition

By the end of 2023, the permanent resident population of Wuhan reached 13.774 million, an increase of 35,000 compared with the end of the previous year. Among them, the urban permanent resident population was 11.679 million, accounting for 84.79% of the total population (the urbanization rate of the permanent resident population), an increase of 0.13 percentage points compared with the end of the previous year. By the end of the year, the registered population of the city was 9.4952 million.

Ecologic construction

Wuhan is determined to develop the real economy and accelerate the construction of a "965" modern industrial system, with remarkable transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry. In the year, 265 projects with an investment of over 100 million yuan started construction, and 126 were put into production. The output of new energy vehicles increased by 47%. The number of small and medium - sized enterprises specializing in sophisticated and innovative products has increased to 612, among which there are over 300 national - level "little giants". Wuhan ranks among the top sub - provincial cities in intelligent manufacturing, winning 9 national - level demonstration honors and adding 25 national - level green enterprises.

The service industry has expanded in scale and improved in quality. 39 new headquarters enterprises and 8 financial institutions have been added. There are 100 commercial buildings with a tax revenue of over 100 million yuan, and the revenue of the software and information service industry has exceeded 300 billion yuan.

The digital economy has achieved innovative breakthroughs. The number of registrations and access enterprises of the industrial Internet has doubled. Wuhan has been approved as a digital transformation pilot city, with complete digital infrastructure and leading performance in the assessment of the "dual - intelligence" pilot. The meta - universe industrial base has been opened, with 204 application scenarios released. 30 digital economy parks have been built, and the digital economy accounts for 48% of GDP.

Scientific and Technological Innovation

Focusing on the strategic needs of the country and highlighting the "application - oriented" approach, Wuhan continues to implement the "410" Project to continuously enhance innovation momentum. The construction of Donghu Science City has achieved breakthroughs in gathering momentum. 13 national key laboratories have been approved for restructuring or new establishment. The construction of 6 large - scale scientific facilities is being vigorously promoted. New - type research and development institutions such as the Wuhan Institute of Industrial Innovation and Development are accelerating their development. The National Open Innovation Platform for Public Computing Power of the New - Generation Artificial Intelligence has been approved for construction. The only national - level intellectual property operation center for the optoelectronic industry in the country has settled in Wuhan.

The foundation for achievement transformation has become more solid. 1.24 million square meters of innovation blocks (parks, buildings) have been newly built. 27 mass - innovation and incubation carriers above the provincial level have been added. 10 municipal - level technology innovation centers and 10 achievement transformation centers have been recognized. The transaction volume of technology contracts reached 219.8 billion yuan, and the number of high - value invention patents per 10,000 people is 34.56.

The scale of innovation entities is constantly expanding. 12,500 sci - tech small and medium - sized enterprises have been evaluated and included in the database, doubling in two years. The number of newly - added high - tech enterprises is over 2,000, with a total of 14,500. The number of national technology innovation demonstration enterprises has increased to 27, ranking first among sub - provincial cities.

Urban and Rural Construction

Wuhan has comprehensively advanced urban development and continuously optimized urban planning. It has improved the three - level territorial spatial planning at the municipal, district, and township levels, as well as special plans for multiple regions, and constructed a multi - center cluster pattern, making the spatial layout more rational. Urban renewal has been effectively implemented. The renewal and renovation of 11 units have been launched. 140 kilometers of drainage pipelines have been newly built or renovated, 19 water - logging - prone points have been eliminated, 196 secondary water supply systems and 440 kilometers of old gas pipelines have been renovated, and 117 first - class urban power grid projects have started construction. More than 6,000 signboards, poles, boxes, and cabinets have been renovated, 1,113 kilometers of overhead lines have been buried underground, the facade quality along 253 roads has been improved, 109 vacant plots have completed comprehensive environmental renovation, and 36,000 manhole covers have been replaced. The ten key projects on the central axis of Wuhan New City have been fully launched. The construction of the Optics Valley Science and Technology Innovation Corridor and the Automobile Valley Industrial Innovation Corridor has been advanced in depth. The Capital Market Service Base of the Wuhan Metropolitan Area has been established and put into operation. The construction of Tianzishan Bridge has started. Six inter - city dead - end roads and bottleneck roads have been opened up, five inter - city bus lines have been launched, and 1,000 service items can be handled across the metropolitan area.

Deepen reform

Centering on stimulating the vitality of business entities, efforts have been made to strengthen the systematic integration of reforms and promote coordinated opening - up. Key reforms have been continuously advanced. 110 innovative measures for the business environment have been implemented. The reform of state - owned enterprises has been deepened, and the development of the private economy has been promoted. Wuhan ranks among the top ten provincial capitals and sub - provincial cities in the national "Evaluation of Business Environment by Ten Thousand Private Enterprises". Government services have been continuously improved. Wuhan has ranked among the top ten in the evaluation of the integrated government service capabilities of key national cities for two consecutive years. Opening - up and cooperation have been continuously deepened. A number of reform experiences in the Wuhan Free Trade Zone have been replicated and promoted. The total import and export volume of the three comprehensive bonded zones has increased by 12.5%, and 325 new enterprises with import and export performance have been added. More than 60 major events, such as the China 5G + Industrial Internet Conference, the World Big Health Expo, the China (Wuhan) Cultural and Tourism Expo, the Design Biennale, the Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurship Conference, and the Wuhan Trade Expo, have been successfully held. 

ecological environment

Wuhan has adopted a multi - pronged strategy in the ecological environment field. Multiple water environment treatment projects have been completed, with new sewage pipelines laid and existing ones upgraded to enhance sewage treatment capacity. Seven centralized waste disposal facilities have been built, achieving “zero landfill” for raw domestic waste. The steel industry has completed ultra - low emission transformation, and 54 “zero - waste factories” have been established. Moreover, 13,000 new energy vehicles have been updated, earning Wuhan the title of National Green Travel - Creating City. Sixteen key projects of the Hundred - mile Yangtze River Ecological Corridor have been launched. Nine of them have been completed and opened, significantly expanding the riverside park area. Many green spaces, tree - lined roads and green rest stops have been newly built. The renovated Wuhan Zoo has reopened. 218 beautiful countryside projects have been accomplished, 33 model belts have been developed, and Caidian District and Huangpi District have been recognized as National Ecological Civilization Construction Demonstration Areas.