Jiangmen is also known asPengjiang.[clarification needed][why?] Its rural hinterland is known to theChinese diaspora as the "Four Counties" (q.v.), although the addition ofHeshan to Jiangmen has prompted the remaining locals to begin calling it the "Five Counties" instead.
Jiangmen was forced to open up to western trade in 1904, after a 1902 declaration which made it atreaty port.[6] During the subsequent period of western influence, a number of western-style buildings were constructed along the city's waterfront, and currently, the city's government is partaking in a renewal project to restore many of these buildings.[citation needed]
On 6 August 1925, the Guangdong provincial government placed Jiangmen under direct administration of the provincial government.[6] Jiangmen was given a city government on 26 November of the same year.[6] In 1931, this status would be revoked, and the city was placed under the administration ofXinhui County.[6]
The city was incorporated into the People's Republic of China on 23 October 1949, and was proclaimed a city in 1951.[6] The city later became the prefectural seat for theSze Yup ("Four County") region includingTaishan,Kaiping,Xinhui,Enping.[7] InMainland China but notabroad, the area became known as the "Five Counties" whenHeshan was added to Jiangmen's jurisdiction.[citation needed]
In 2011, the city bannedpet dogs in public afterrabies killed 42 people over the preceding 3 years.[8] The city reserved a 13-acre site to allow rural Chinese to adopt the 30,000 dogs,[8][9] but public outcry led to a softer implementation where violators would be told to leave rather than have the dog confiscated.[10]
In 2017, Jiangmen Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone ranked 64th among national hi-tech zones in China.[11]
In 2020, Jiangmen Station of the West Pearl River Delta Transportation Center opened to the public.[citation needed]
Jiangmen was selected by the Chinese state as a pilot city for a nationwide information programme.[which?] It was also chosen by thePacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) as a trial city for the Regional Integration for Sustainable Economics (RISE) project.[15] According to theWorld Bank's "Report on Investment Environment in China" for 2005, Jiangmen was ranked the sixth most conducive city in China for investment.[3]
The economic development strategies within Jiangmen focus on the three urban districts, and the south, middle and north lines.[citation needed] It is planned to develop four main economic areas: the central urban district of the city, the Yinzhou Lake (银州湖;銀州湖) economic area, and two economic areas along the various transport axes.[citation needed]
In 2018, the city reported a GDP of 290.041 billionYuan, government revenue totaling 24.393 billion Yuan, and retail sales totaling 140.758 billion Yuan.[16] In 2024, the city reported a GDP of 4022.96 billionYuan.
The city was the proposed site of a $6.5 billion, 40 billion renminbi, uranium processing plant which would have supplied about half of the enriched uranium needed by China's nuclear power plants. Announcement of the plant in July 2013 was met by public protests.[17] The proposal was withdrawn out of "respect for public opinion" shortly thereafter.[18]
Jiangmen is the ancestral homeland of approximately 4 millionoverseas Chinese, who live in 107 countries and regions throughout the world.[3] Strong oversea connections are especially found in the villages.[citation needed] The dialect spoken in Jiangmen city itself is aSiyi Yue dialect, but is distinct from theTaishanese spoken inTaishan City.[24] Every year, A unique dragon dance is performed in water during Pan Village Lantern Festival in Shuikou Town,Kaiping, Jiangmen, Guangdong.
A significant amount of historical heritage survives from the period of mass emigration prior toWorld War II. The most significant are the fortified multi-story towers found mainly in Kaiping. These are known as "Gold Mountain Towers" ordiaolou. A number of natural hotspring resorts has been developed successfully by using its wealthy natural heated ground water resources such as Gudou Hotspring Resort (古兜温泉).Guifeng Mountain, a mountain visited by many tourists, is the peak of Jiangmen with an elevation of 545 meters above sea level.
The local government's economic development strategies emphasize the development of tourism and protection of the environment.[citation needed]
Jiangmen No. 1 Middle School is claimed[by whom?] to be the top middle school in the district. It used to be one of the best middle schools in Guangdong Province in the 1980s and 1990s. However, the quality of its education has been dropping in recent years and within the district of Jiangmen, its status is being constantly challenged by schools such as Xinhui No. 1 Middle School in Xinhui, Kaiqiao (Kaiping Emigrant) Middle School in Kiaping and Heshan No.1 Middle School in Heshan.[original research?]
China National Highway 325 is the only highway in the national trunk road system that goes into Jiangmen. Several provincial highways, such as S273, S274, S276 and S367 link the city's suburb areas to major towns.
There are 18 coach terminals across Jiangmen as of 2016. 1,137 licensed coaches owned by 23 operators provide inter-county and inter-city bus services to major cities within and outside Guangdong.[27]
Bus service withinPengjiang andJianghai Districts are provided by Jiangmen Bus Co. Ltd.. Bus routes inXinhui District were formerly operated by Macao-based Xinfuli Co., but all routes were consolidated into the city-owned bus system run by Jiangmen Automobile Transportation Group Co. Ltd. in 2010. Transit buses in other districts are operated by Jiangmen Automobile Transportation Group and other private companies.
By 2016, there are 1,077 taxicabs in Jiangmen, most of which are operated by local companies.[27]
Sorted by family name/surname (as per the English spelling), then by English given name (if applicable) or by Chinese given name (if no English given name is available).
^Theodore Shabad (1956).China's Changing Map: A Political and Economic Geography of the Chinese People's Republic. New York: Frederick A. Praeger. p. 166.LCCN55-11530.OCLC916993074.With the exception of Shiukwan on the Canton-Hankow railroad, Kwangtung's regional centers are situated along the coast, notably in the Canton delta. There, in addition to Canton, are the cities of Fatshan,Kongmoon and Shekki. The metropolis of western Kwangtung is Tsamkong, and Pakhoi is the chief town of the western panhandle.
^经济综述 [Economic Summary] (in Chinese). Jiangmen Municipal People's Government. 2 December 2019.Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved15 July 2020.
^《广东统计年鉴2014》 (in Simplified Chinese). China Statistics Press. September 2014.ISBN978-7-5037-7174-3.
^Census Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China; Population and Employment Statistics Division of the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China (2012).中国2010人口普查分乡、镇、街道资料 (1 ed.). Beijing:China Statistics Print.ISBN978-7-5037-6660-2.
^Tan, Yutian (2017).Classifying Siyi Cantonese Using Quantitative Approaches (PhD). Ohio State University. p. iii:[T]he remaining six Siyi dialects can be divided into two major groups or clusters. Cluster 1 consists ofTaishan andKaiping, while Cluster 2 consists ofXinhui, Jiangmen,Doumen, andEnping. Within Cluster 2, Enping is phonologically the most marginal member, whereas Jiangmen is lexically the most marginal member.
^Bureau of Statistics of Jiangmen Municipality (28 December 2017).江门统计年鉴-2017 (in Chinese). Retrieved21 September 2018.
^D932时刻表 (in Simplified Chinese). gaotie.cn. Retrieved22 September 2018.
^abJiangmen People's Government Office of Local Chronicles.Jiangmen Yearbook.ISBN9787514427752.