Heilongjiang’s largest economy, Harbin has historically been a heavy industrial base; other industries such as petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, foodstuff, and textiles have formed a comprehensive industrial system in the city. The city is also a major agricultural base in China and boasts a complete agricultural process chain. Additionally, China’s “Ice City” is an important transportation gateway, with an international land bridge and important air and rail linkages.
In recent years, Harbin’s service industry has experienced steady growth, thanks in part to retail and tourism, as well as the value-added industrial output of the service industry; the latter accounted for just over half of Harbin’s GDP in 2010.
