Since China' s reform and opening - up, the economic and social development of Quanzhou has taken a huge step forward with tremendous changes taking place in this city. As a result, all counties in Quanzhou have been titled successively Fujian Provincial Top 10 Counties in economic strength. Jinjiang City, Shishi City, Nan' an City, Hui' an County and Anxi County, have been awarded "Top 100 Advanced Counties" by the State.

Today, Quanzhou has four special economical zones and five technological bases. Here, sveral regional brands are taking shape: The Hometown of Resin Craftship in Fengze District, China' s Leisure Clothes Center in Shishi City, the Home of China Shoes and National Base of Food Industry in Jinjiang City, the Home of Building Materials and Longan in Nan'an City, the Home of Stone Carving in Hui' an County, the Home of Rattan and Iron Craft and Oolong Tea in Anxi County, the Home of Orange in Yongchun and the Hometown of Chinaware Craftship in Dehua County.

Quanzhou is among the first group of 40 cities with favorable external environment for investment approved by the country. In recent years, the municipal government, with the aim to improve its investment environment, has been concentrating its efforts on its infrastructure construction such as transportation, energy supply, telecommunication and municipal engineering. For transportation, all of car, ship and plane come in handy. Besides, a series of policies has been released to encourage foreign investment and to improve government efficiency.

Today, with fresh appearance on the west side of the Taiwan Strait, Quanzhou extends a warm welcome to friends from home and abroad.

Source: Quanzhou Economic and Social Development Report 2007

The gravity of Quanzhou lies in its culture. Quanzhou is filled to the brim with splendid culture. It is one of the 24 renowned historic cities of cultural significance in China made public in the first batch by the State Council. Quanzhou was the departure port of the ancient "Maritime Silk Route", reputed as a remarkable place on the coast as the State of Zou or the State of Lu (where the sages of antiquity and great thinkers Confucius and Mencius were brought forth), described as a "City of Brightness" and styled a "Religious Museum of the World". Quanzhou was the first one designated by the UNESCO as "The Exhibition Center for Multi - culture of the World". The culture of Quanzhou is derived from the Central Plains of China, the ancient Yue clan of Fujian and the marine cultures of the world. Quanzhou has given birth to a multitude of outstanding and talented people. Culture is the marrow of this city. Nowadays, it has been a model city of Chinese culture, a protection zone of ecological culture in the South Fujian and a pilot city in protection of national and folk cultures. Here traditional Chinese culture has been well preserved such as Quanzhou Nanyin which is regarded as the living fossil of the Chinese music, the age-old beautiful local drama arts (Liyuan opera, Gaojia opera, marionette and dacheng drama), the exquisite traditional folk crafts and the unique folk customs and fascinations (Hui’an women and Xunpu women). They have constructed a colorful art gallery of national and folk cultures.

In 2007, the industrial output of enterprises above designated scale in Quanzhou reached RMB 341.8 billion, up 24.6% over 2006. Quanzhou has an industrial structure focusing on the light industry. In 2007, the ratio of light industry to heavy industry by industrial output was 1.7:1. Foreign invested companies accounted for the largest percentage (54.7%) of the total industrial output.

Quanzhou's traditional industries include textiles and garments, building materials, food processing and machinery. In 2007, the industrial output of the four sectors reached RMB 223.3 billion, accounting for 65.3% of the city's total. The food processing industry enjoyed a growth of 50.9% - the fastest among the four traditional industries.

The textile and garment industry is Quanzhou's most competitive industry. In 2007, the sector's industrial output reached RMB 95.0 billion, up 12.5%. Presently, there are over 8,000 textile and garment companies, eight of which exceeded RMB 1 billion in industrial output in 2007.

Quanzhou's newly - emerging industries include petrochemicals, electronics, automobiles and auto parts, shipbuilding, and biopharmaceuticals. In 2007, the industrial output of the five aforementioned industries reached RMB 45.0 billon, accounting for 13.2% of the city's total. Of these five industries, petrochemicals industry is the largest, with an industrial output of RMB 38.4 billion.

The Petrochemical industry is the key industry that the city encourages in terms of development. The petrochemical industrial group in Quanzhou Port is also Fujian Province's key project in its eleventh five-year plan (2006-2010). The Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Company is the largest investment in this sector. With an annual refining capability of 12 million tons, its industrial output will exceed RMB 60 billion after completion, and a petrochemical industrial chain with an industrial output of RMB 150 billion will be formed.

In 2007, Quanzhou's foreign trade grew by 24.8% to US$6.9 billion, US$5.0 billion of which was generated by export. The U.S. and EU were major export destinations, accounting for 20.6% and 15.3% of the total export. Within the same year, utilized FDI reached US$1.7 billion, up 17.1% over 2006.