Overview of Ordos

Ordos, together with Hohhot and Baotou, is part of the "golden triangle" in the economic development of the autonomous region. Its main economic indicators are leading the whole region and positioned at the forefront of China's western regions. A prominent American consulting firm estimates that Ordos is one of the few locations in the world best suited for developing energy-intensive industries. In accordance with national planning, Ordos continues to place great emphasis on developing "Five bases” — a clean energy output base, a modern coal chemical production demonstration base, an aluminum industry and equipment manufacturing base, a green agricultural and animal products processing output base and a tourism base.

In 2019, Ordos’ economy developed steadily, achieving a regional GDP of 360.5 billion yuan ($51.95 billion), an increase of 4 percent over the previous year, according to statistics. Of the total, the added value of the primary industry totaled 12.37 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.5 percent. Elsewhere, the added value of the secondary industry was 209.23 billion yuan, an increase of 4.3 percent, while the added value of the tertiary industry was 138.91 billion yuan, an increase of 3.6 percent.

The total local fiscal revenue for the year was 103.2 billion yuan, an increase of 12.6 percent and the local general public budget revenue was 50 billion yuan, an increase of 15.6 percent year-on-year. The proportion of total local fiscal revenue to the GDP was 28.6 percent, an annual increase of 1.6 percentage points.

In 2019, the per capita disposable income of all residents was 41,368 yuan, an increase of 7.4 percent year-on-year. Of this, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 49,768 yuan, an increase of 6.3 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, the disposable income of rural residents in pastoral areas was 20,075 yuan, an increase of 9.8 percent. The income ratio of urban and rural residents in the city has narrowed from 2.56: 1 in 2018 to 2.48: 1 in 2019.

Resource advantages

Wool

The annual wool and cashmere outputs in Ordos are 9,000 tons and 1,700 tons. The cashmere fiber has good elasticity, length, fineness, whiteness and luster and enjoys great popularity among foreign traders. The Chinese household name Erdos is an apparel brand that originated in the city. One third of China’s cashmere products come from Ordos, and its output accounts for a quarter of the world's total. Therefore, the city is known as the "Cashmere Capital" of China and has become a world-class hub for the industry.

Coal

Seventy percent of Ordos has coal reserves, the number one rank among prefecture-level cities in China. The city's proved reserves of coal surpass 193 billion tons, accounting for half and one sixth of those of the autonomous region and the country respectively. Total coal reserves are estimated at 1,000 billion tons. The coal is a rare high caloric thermal coal with low ash, low phosphorus and low sulfur.

Soil

The 7.12 million ton Kaolin clay reserves in Ordos are of high quality and high concentration. Kaolin is the best raw material for porcelain and is comparable to the clay of Jingdezhen, China's Porcelain Capital.

Gas

Ordos's Sulige Gasfield is by far the largest in China. It is a pivot city of China's west-east gas transmission project and has proven natural gas reserves of 2,650 billion cubic meters, one third of the country's total.

Wind

Wind energy is evenly distributed in Ordos with good continuity and stability. Average effective wind power density is 150-200 watts/sq m, and the total amount of wind energy resources can reach about 10 million kilowatts, which is suitable for developing super large wind farms.

Sunlight

The city's annual average sunshine duration is 2,763 to 3,166 hours and its annual average solar radiation exceeds 1,700 kilowatt-hours per sq m.

The long sunshine duration and high water level on the ground make Ordos suitable for developing photovoltaic solar power generation projects.