Baiyin () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

province, People's Republic of China. Established in the 1950s as a base for mining

non-ferrous metal In metallurgy, non-ferrous metals are metals or alloys that do not contain iron (allotropes of iron, ferrite, and so on) in appreciable amounts. Generally more costly than ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals are used because of desirable proper ...

s, its mines are becoming exhausted in recent decades, requiring the city to reinvent its economy. Located around from Gansu's capital

Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...

, it is part of the Lanzhou-Baiyin Economic Belt.

Geography and climate

Baiyin is part ''

loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...

'' plateau, part desert. Elevation ranges from above sea-level. The climate is very arid with only of annual precipitation. Annual evaporation is resulting in a net loss of approximately . The Yellow River flows from south to north for through Baiyin. The area is , of that urban.

Administration

Baiyin has 2 urban districts, 3 counties, 64 townships, 18 towns, and 7 sub-districts with a total population of 1,746,800(2011).

Economy

The

Baiyin Nonferrous Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co., Ltd. known also as BNMCAcronym of Baiyin Nonferrous Metal Corporation is a Chinese company based in Baiyin, Gansu Province, China. The company was the main copper supplier in China. Since 15 February 2017, Baiyin Nonf ...

operates copper, zinc and selenium mines around Baiyin, although these mines are getting exhausted of ore. Financed by development funds, a high-tech park is being built, which is home to a

contact lens Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmetic ...

factory.

Pingchuan District Pingchuan District () is a district of the city of Baiyin, Gansu province of the People's Republic of China. It is located about 65 km northeast of Baiyin city centre. The district was established in 1985, being part of Jingyuan County befor ...

and

Huining County Huining County () is a county in the east of Gansu Province, bordering Ningxia to the east. It is under the administration of Baiyin City and located at its southeast end. Its postal code is 730700, and its population in 1999 was 569,599 people. I ...

are the largest coal production bases in Gansu province. The Yinguang Group, a subsidiary of

Norinco China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, doing business internationally as Norinco Group (North Industries Corporation), and known within China as China Ordnance Industries Group Corporation Limited (), is a Chinese state-owned defense ...

, operates a major factory making chemicals for defense and civilian use, the factory was a key project of the first five-year plan.

Transportation

Baiyin is directly served by the Baotou–Lanzhou railway, Honghui railway, China National Highway 109,

China National Highway 341 China National Highway 341 will run from Jiaonan in Shandong to Haiyan in Qinghai. It is one of the new trunk highways proposed in the China National Highway Network Planning (2013 - 2030). Status ;Shandong Complete between Jiaonan and Zhuchen ...

and

G6 Beijing–Lhasa Expressway The Beijing–Tibet Expressway (), commonly abbreviated to Jingzang Expressway (), also known as Beijing–Lhasa Expressway (Jingla Expressway; ) or China National Expressway 6, is part of the Expressways of China, Chinese national expressway netwo ...

Notable people

Chen Hualan Chen Hualan (; born March 1969) is a Chinese veterinary virologist best known for researching animal epidemic diseases. She is a member of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and a member of the Food and Agriculture Organization Cor ...

– veterinary virologist

References

External links

Official Website (Chinese)
{{authority control Prefecture-level divisions of Gansu