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Shihezi

China · Asia

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County-level city in Xinjiang, China

About Shihezi

Shihezi is a sub-prefecture-level city in Northern Xinjiang, China. It has a population of 380,130 according to the 2010 census. The city is also home to Shihezi University, the second-largest comprehensive university under the Project 211 in Xinjiang.

History

In 1951, General Wang Zhen decided to build a new base for the People's Liberation Army and selected the location of current Shihezi. Zhao Xiguang (赵锡光) took charge in the development of the city, and established the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in 1954. Quasimilitary-structured farms surrounding Shihezi fueled the development of the city by producing materials for the factories that have been the economic drivers of the city. In 1974, Shihezi became a city.

Geography and climate

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Shihezi is located at the northern foothills of the middle part of the Tian Shan range approximately 136 kilometres (85 mi) from the regional capital of Ürümqi. Although Shihezi is almost surrounded on the east, west and north by the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture (which also includes the city's eastern neighbor, the much older historically Hui town of Manas), it is not a part of it. Located in an area further from the nearest seacoast than any other region on earth, Shihezi has a continental semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), with a large temperature differences between summer and winter. Monthly average temperatures range from −15.3 °C (4.5 °F) in January to 25.3 °C (77.5 °F), and the annual mean temperature is 7.39 °C (45.3 °F). Precipitation is very low year-round, with an annual total of only 206 millimeters (8. …

Economy

Nowadays textile and food industries are the most important in Shihezi. The railway to Wusu and Ürümqi skirts the city, while a United Nations economic development project provided a high-quality highway system for the city. The textile industry is the primary employer, although the international trade environment on textiles has brought in fluctuations in employment. As a hub to surrounding farms, the city's destiny is currently tied with theirs. Sugar beets are cultivated near Shihezi. Cultivation of cotton in the farms was accelerated in the 1990s and now dominates the economy. Shihezi is also home to a polysilicon factory of Daqo New Energy Corp., one of the largest polysilicon producers in the world.