Xiuzhou District

Xiuzhou District (Chinese: 秀洲区; pinyin: Xiùzhōu Qū) is a district in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, China, bordering Jiangsu province to the north. There is 90 km (56 mi) to central Shanghai in the northeast, 80 km (50 mi) to Hangzhou in the southwest and 70 km (43 mi) to Suzhou in the north. It is an important urban district of Jiaxing city. The total of Xiouzhou District is 542 km² (209 sq mi), population of 500,000 and it is composed of five towns, four streets and one provincial E.D. Zone (Economical Development Zone).

Xiuzhou 秀洲区
District
Xiuzhou Location of the seat in Zhejiang
Coordinates: 30°46′N 120°42′E
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Zhejiang
Prefecture-level city	Jiaxing
Area
• Total	542 km2 (209 sq mi)
Population
• Total	500,000
• Density	920/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
Website	www.xiuzhou.gov.cn

Xiuzhou district takes its name from the ancient settlement, which was founded in the Spring and Autumn period, that became Jiaxing. It was named Xiuzhou district in 1999. Xiuzhou has long history and deep culture base. The Grand Canal of China, Changhong Bridge, Baoshu Pavilion and so on are the famous historical resorts. The famous Qing Dynasty scholar and poet Zhu Yizun, the biologist Cheng Shixiang, and the doctor Jiang Zhixin are all personalities in its history. Based upon the beautiful waters of this region area together with its traditional culture, the folk painting here is colourful and full of passion for life. The Xiuzhou district has achieved the honour of being called by the title of “Hometown of Modern Folk Painting in China”, named by the Ministry of Culture.

Xiuzhou is called “a land of milk and honey, the hometown of silk”. With rapid development of the social life and economy, Xiuzhou is growing from an agricultural zone into a newly industrial area. It has been declared a “State advanced technology zone”, “National advanced physical education area”, “National advanced social security area”, “Provincial physical culture district”, “provincial culture district”. In 2006, the GDP and state budget income reach RMB 10.92 billion and RMB 1.14 billion, which increase by 14.1% and 24.6%. The ratio of three industries is 8.6: 61.0: 30.4. All these are signing a good beginning of a new round of Xiuzhou's development.

Xiuzhou district enjoys a favourable location and convenient transportation, and as a result has experienced rapid growth across many industries, particularly textiles. The expressway network in Xiuzhou is characterized as “3-horizontal, 3-bridge” and is made up by five expressways including Hu-Hang-Yong, Zha-Jia-Su expressway and Shen-Jia-Hu, Huangzhou baycross-ocean bridge expressway which are under construction. Moreover, Shanghai-Hangzhou railway, 320 national highway and the Grand Canal of China are crossing the district and connecting to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Shanghai four provinces and cities. All towns of Xiuzhou connect to the expressway in 15 minutes and enjoy “one hour transportation circle” to large cities around. The traffic network makrs Xiuzhou closely integrate with Shanghai and Hangzhou.