Nestled by the Yellow River, Ordos shines like a bright pearl. Nurtured by the river and wisdom of the locals, the city radiates with a  long and splendid city history filled with story after story, each chapter an exciting testament to its unique development.

Geography

Sitting in the southwest of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and surrounded by the Yellow River on three sides, it is close to the Great Wall, with Shanxi, Shaanxi provinces and Ningxia Hui autonomous region in the south. "Ordos" literally translates to "numerous palaces" in Mongolian language. With two national natural conservation areas, the whole city covers an area of 87,000 square kilometers, featuring hilly regions to the east, plain and plateau land to the west, Maowusu desert to the south, and Kubuqi desert and plain terrain to the north. Summer temperatures average 21 C, and winters see a drop to -6.6 C. Annual precipitation settles at 341 millimeters, and Ordos generally enjoys superior weather conditions throughout the year.

Abundant resources

Ordos benefits from an abundance of resources, with more than 50 kinds of minerals. Local confirmed coal reserves stand at 201.7 billion tons, accounting for one sixth of total reserves across the country and half of all in Inner Mongolia. Gross coal reserves are estimated to be around 1 trillion tons. Local coal is of great quality, with low ash, sulfur and phosphorous content and higher calorific power. Proven natural gas reserves stand at 801.7 billion cubic meters, accounting for one third of nationwide reserves. One third of China's Alpine pure-white cashmere, known as fiber gem and soft gold, comes from Ordos. Kaolin, trona, salt, Glauber's salt, gypsum, limestone, purple clay and other resources are all in huge reserves in Ordos. The cultivated land area stands at 6.85 million mu (0.47 million hectares), including 4.5 million mu of irrigated land. Grassland covers an area of 100.69 million mu, of which 90 million mu can be utilized.

Economy

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.