Binzhou is a
prefecture-level cityA prefecture-level city or prefecture-level municipality is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China, ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. Prefecture-level cities form the second level of the administrative structure...
in northern
ShandongFor the people of Shandong, see Shandong people' is a coastal province of eastern People's Republic of China. Its abbreviation is Lǔ, after the state of Lu that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
province,
People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
. Sitting on the northern bank of the
Yellow RiverThe Yellow River or Huang He / Hwang Ho is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at 5,464 kilometers . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into the Bohai Sea...
with two arms extended to the southern bank, Binzhou borders the provincial capital of
JinanJinan is a sub-provincial city and the capital of Shandong Province in the People's Republic of China...
to the southwest,
DezhouDezhou is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Liaocheng to the southwest, Binzhou to the northeast, and the province of Hebei to the north....
to the west,
ZiboZibo is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the west, Laiwu and Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou the north.
Located in the middle...
to the south,
DongyingDongying is a prefecture-level city in Shandong province, People's Republic of China. Located around the mouth of the Yellow River, Dongying borders Binzhou to the west, Zibo to the southwest, and Weifang to the south...
to the east, and the province of
Hebei' is a northern province of the People's Republic of China. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province , a Han Dynasty province that included southern Hebei...
to the north. The city also has a short coastline bordering the
Bohai BayBohai Bay is one of the three bays forming the Bohai Gulf, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea, in northeastern China. It borders Hebei province and Tianjin Municipality....
.
Administration
The
prefecture-level cityA prefecture-level city or prefecture-level municipality is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China, ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. Prefecture-level cities form the second level of the administrative structure...
of Binzhou administers 7 county-level divisions, including 1 district and 6 counties.
- Bincheng District
Bincheng is a district of Binzhou in the Chinese province of Shandong.Taishan has an area of 1042 km² and around 610,000 inhabitants . It is the centre and administrative capital of Binzhou....
(滨城区)
- Zouping County
Zouping is a district of Binzhou in the Chinese province of Shandong.The population in 1999 was 684,079.- External links :*...
(邹平县)
- Boxing County
Boxing County is a county of Binzhou, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China.-External links:*...
(博兴县)
- Huimin County
Huimin is a district of Binzhou in the Chinese province of Shandong.The population in 1999 was 620,335.- External links :*...
(惠民县)
- Yangxin County
Yangxin County may refer to several counties in China:* Yangxin County, Hubei * Yangxin County, Shandong...
(阳信县)
- Zhanhua County
Zhanhua is a district of Binzhou in the Chinese province of Shandong.The population in 1999 was 381,416.- External links :*...
(沾化县)
- Wudi County
Wudi is a district of Binzhou in the Chinese province of Shandong.The population in 1999 was 424,456.- External links :*...
(无棣县)
Prior to 1983, both Binzhou and neighboring
DongyingDongying is a prefecture-level city in Shandong province, People's Republic of China. Located around the mouth of the Yellow River, Dongying borders Binzhou to the west, Zibo to the southwest, and Weifang to the south...
were not considered large or developed enough to be incorporated into cities. Instead, they formed a "di qu" (literally, a "region") managed by the provincial government. BinZhou used to be named as Huimin di qu(惠民地区) before it's renamed to BinZhou di qu in 1984 and Binzhou di qu was promoted as city in 1992.
Notable people
- Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu is traditionally believed to have authored The Art of War, an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy considered to be a prime example of Taoist thinking. Sun has had a significant impact on Chinese and Asian history and culture, both as an author of The Art of War and through...
, Spring and Autumn era military general and strategist, author of the Art of WarThe Art of War is a Chinese military treatise that was written by Sun Tzu in the 6th century BC, during the Spring and Autumn period. Composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it is said to be the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time, and...
.
Economy
Binzhou, and neighboring
DongyingDongying is a prefecture-level city in Shandong province, People's Republic of China. Located around the mouth of the Yellow River, Dongying borders Binzhou to the west, Zibo to the southwest, and Weifang to the south...
, has historically had an agrarian economy. Binzhou is known regionally for its "dongzao" (literally, winter dates). After the
Shengli FieldThe Shengli Oil Field is the second-largest oil field in the People's Republic of China, with daily production of approximately 650,000 barrels.It is located in the Yellow River delta, in the north of Shandong province bordering Bohai Sea...
was discovered, most of the field was incorporated into newly created Dongying, although Binzhou maintain some oil operations. Binzhou has been diversifying its economy away from agriculture by attracting manufacturing and foreign direct investment into the city. Among Binzhou's large businesses include Weiqiao, a textile company, and Binzhou Pride, a new auto company targeting the growing low-cost market.
http://www.wqfz.com/ http://pldqc.wyww.cn/
The Binzhou local government has also plowed resources into a new economic development zone on the outskirts of the new city, complete with a man-made lake.
http://www.chinabinzhou.net/t09english/development/binzhou.asp
Binzhou's role in pet food crisis
In April 2007, Binzhou made international headlines when Binzhou Futian Biology Technology, in Wudi County, was identified by US officials as one of two sources of contaminated wheat gluten in the
2007 pet food recallsThe 2007 pet food recalls comprise the contamination and wide recall of many brands of cat and dog foods beginning in March 2007 and the ensuing developments involving the human food supply. The recalls in North America, Europe, and South Africa came in response to reports of renal failure in pets...
. Shortly after, the company was shuttered by Chinese authorities, who also detained its general manager.
Reform
In 2004, the Binzhou government implemented
Democratic Political Discussion Day, held on the 5th of each month. Under this scheme, every village-level government on this day is required to hold "open debate" and conference for villagers (essentially a town hall). At these meetings, a monthly financial report is presented, highlighting past and planned expenditure, investment performance and such other financial information.
In theory, this is supposed to open village finances to greater public scrutiny and debate. Also released at these meetings are reports on the past performance of the government and governmental officials, and future actions and decisions planned, and just like the financial reports, these are also under the public scrutiny and debate. The resulting event is a secret ballot for every villager to vote for everything discussed at these meetings and governments cannot proceed on any issues unless they are passed with a majority vote. The issues passed by popular vote would then be carried out, and at the same time, the government would also make improvement and adjustment on the policies and issues that did not pass, and then present the revisions for the public scrutiny and debate at the next meeting.
Result of the political reform
Ever since the implementation of the political reform at Binzhou, the policy and performance have become transparent and obvious, corruption was checked, cadres' performance and popular support increased, and economy has steadily developed. The letters of petition from villagers to the government reduced more than 30%, and more importantly, in comparison to the era prior to the implementation of the political reform where over 90% of the petitions were criticism and complaints, over 90% of the petition after the implementation of the political reform was suggestions for improvement and requests for assistance.
The obvious achievement of the political reform of Binzhou is widely reported in the domestic Chinese media, as well as many overseas Chinese media, such as Zhong Guo Daily News in Southern California, or its more commonly known Chinese name among local Chinese readers, China Daily (Not to be confused
China DailyThe China Daily is an English-language daily newspaper published in the People's Republic of China.- Overview :The state-run publication was established in June 1981 and has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in the country...
, the official English publication of Chinese government), and is termed by both domestic and overseas scholars as a good example for governments in other parts of
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
to follow, and along with Chinese media, they have urged authorities to slowly but steadily expand the reform to a greater scale.