Temple of Heaven
Dongcheng District is the capital's core functional area, as well as the core carrying area of Beijing, the national center for politics, culture and international exchanges. Moreover, it is a key area for the conservation of historic cultural cities and an important window to show the capital's image. The district covers 41.84 square kilometers, being the smallest one in Beijing. The district administers 17 subdistrict offices and 177 communities. As the core functional area of the capital, Dongcheng performs the function of "four services" and implements the strategic decisions and deployments from both the central government and Beijing Municipality. As a result, Dongcheng achieved generally steady economic development, pushed forward in-depth structural adjustment and kept improving the people's livelihood.
A central government affairs service district converging massive administrative resources.
There are 26 central national ministries and commissions, 12 national ministerial public institutions, 8 military organs above the corps level and 10 central enterprises' headquarters. Dongcheng boasts 32 high star-level hotels, such as Beijing Hotel, Beijing International Hotel, Legendale Hotel Beijing and Regent Hotel. 18 of the 32 hotels are five-star ones, accounting for 30% of Beijing's five-star hotels. Moreover, as significant ground for numerous political events, Dongcheng has conference facilities covering a total area of 55,000 square meters, including three conference venues with a capacity above a thousand. To name a few, Dongcheng successfully presented the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the International Horticultural Exhibition 2019 in recent years.
A central capital district with profound cultural foundation.
Dongcheng is proud of its countless cultural and historical resources. The district has three world cultural heritage sites: the Palace Museum, Temple of Heaven, Gudao Jade Lake section of the Grand Canal. There are 31 national intangible cultural heritages, 33 representative successors of national intangible cultural heritages, and 356 immovable cultural relics, making Dongcheng a district with the richest history and culture in its street blocks and with the largest area for relic preservation as well as the best display for capital's ancient images. Besides, Dongcheng is a pool gathering an array of different cultures that complement and reinforce the charm of each other, namely, imperial culture, Buddhism culture, Sinology culture, Confucian culture, merchant culture, folk customs and guildhall culture. Moreover, Dongcheng is rather rich in its tourism resources. It is a world-renowned cultural tourism scenic spot covering 12 A-level attractions, including 6 4-A level tourist attractions and 2 5-A level tourist attractions. The total number of tourists the district receives exceeds 90 million, making it the top among Beijing's districts in terms of numbers of tourists. The number of inbound tourists exceeds 1.1 million, accounting for a quarter of Beijing's total. Furthermore, a number of cultural brand events have also boosted Dongcheng's international clout in tourism, including Global Tour of Ditan Cultural Temple Fair, International Tourism Festival of Imperial Palace and Qianmen Historical and Cultural Festival.
A district assembling distinctive high-end service industry.
Growing economic aggregate. In 2019, the district-wide GDP reached 291.04 billion yuan, gaining a year-on-year growth of 6%. The revenues in general public budget totaled CNY 18.97 billion, showing an year-on-year growth of 8%. The investment on fixed assets dropped by 8.8%, standing at CNY 26.28 billion. Investment in construction and installation sector achieved 6.9% in yearly increase, totaling CNY 7.54 billion. Total market consumption gained 6.2% yearly growth, reaching CNY 240.58 billion. Retail sales of consumer goods reached CNY 110.52 billion, realizing 5% growth on an annual basis.
Distinctive economic growth drivers. Dongcheng follows a sophisticated development path with service sector at its core, cultural sector being its distinctive growth driver and headquarters economy being the foundation. In 2019, the contribution of the service sector to the district's economic aggregate was 97%, being the top in Beijing, and there was an added value of CNY 282.29 billion. Moreover, Dongcheng takes pride in its 343 strong headquarters. At the same time, there are 5 Fortune 500 companies and 13 Top 500 enterprises of China in the district.
Improved functional layout. At present the spatial landscape of Dongcheng is featured by "two axes, one belt and two industrial parks". In 2019, there were 1068 hi-tech enterprises in Dongcheng Park of Zhongguancun. The output per land and per laborer here ranked first among Zhongguancun's "one district and sixteen parks" portfolio. In 2019, the total output generated by high-tech enterprises above designated size in Dongcheng Park was estimated to be 290 billion yuan, achieving 11.5% yearly growth. More specifically, output per land in the industrial park reached CNY 48.1 billion/square kilometers, being the first in Beijing. While the output per labor reached CNY 3.22 million/person, ranking second.
Enjoyable business environment. Dongcheng boasts 3.5 million square meters of commercial buildings, the equivalent of 3.86 square meters per person. There are altogether 12 general and distinctive commercial blocks and over 1.2 million square meters of commercial buildings. Among them, there are 2 famous national-level commercial blocks, 1 national distinctive commercial block and 8 municipal distinctive commercial blocks. In addition, there are 66 time-honored brands and 80 famous brands in the district, Among them, there are 24 China's time-honored brands including Tongrentang, Quanjude, Bian Yi Fang and Du Yi Chu. The average brand history for the 80 brands is 150 years, of which 48 brands enjoy over a hundred years of history, with the average brand history of 217 years, accounting for 60% of all time-honored brands in the district.
A livable, civil district with harmonious surroundings.
Rich and colorful residential activities. Dongcheng is an example for national public culture service system as all of its public cultural facilities are up to par. The district boasts one third of Beijing's art theaters, with 34 professional ones including Beijing People's Art Theater and Beijing Poly Theater. Over the years, the district has successfully held numerous performance events, to name a few, South Luogu Lane Drama Show Season, Theater and Drama Festival for Chinese Children, Beijing Fringe Festival, National Exhibition and Performance of Outstanding New Drama, Sinology Cultural Festival of Confucian Temple & The Imperial College and National Exhibition and Performance of Chinese Folk Arts.
Balanced development in quality education. Dongcheng owns nearly 200 educational institutions. Among them, there are 12 beacon high schools including No.2 High School, No.5 High School and Jingshan School, 61 elementary schools including Shijia Primary School, Fuxue Primary School, Guangming Primary School and 21 municipal-level exemplary kindergartens including Beijing No.1 Kindergarten and No.5 Kindergarten. As a pioneer district for national basic education overall reform and a leader of education in Beijing, Dongcheng has achieved a coverage of quality compulsory education resources of 97%. In 2019, the district added over 2,100 placements for preschool education degree, garnering a reputation of "a district with fundamentally balanced national compulsory education".
A leader in healthcare. There are 576 medical settings in Dongcheng in total, including 9 tertiary hospitals, such as Union Hospital, Beijing Hospital and Tongren Hospital. There are 12,099 beds altogether, the equivalent of 13.78 beds per 1,000 residents, which is more than twice Beijing's average. Residents in the district enjoy an average life expectancy of 84.31 years. As a result, Dongcheng is a leader regarding public services development. Furthermore, the district was designated as a "national exemplary district of distinctive TCM community health service", and is one of the first "overall reform and pilot areas for national TCM development" and national-level "integration of medical treatment and elderly nursing", and gained an honorary title of "model unit for national elderly care service". Furthermore, there are 6 comprehensive and 6 specialized medical treatment alliances in Dongcheng, making it into the list of "pilot urban areas for medical treatment alliance construction". Besides, the relocation and construction of Dongcheng No.1 People's Hospital is underway, and Dongcheng Comprehensive Service Center for the Disabled has come into service.
A district becoming increasingly elegant. Dongcheng has the privilege to take four wins in a row for the title of "National Civilized District", a streak of 7 wins for "National Double Support Model City", and "National Harmonious Community Construction Demonstration District" as well as "National Peaceful Building Leader District". The district put forward "the Model of Ten-Thousand Meter as a Unit Grid for Urban Management" and "Comprehensive Law Enforcement Model for Urban Management". These urban management experiences are now being widely replicated across the country. Moreover, Dongcheng crafted a number of excellent environmental building projects such as Urban Corridor Project Encircling the 2nd Ring of Beijing and Ming Dynasty Wall Ruins Park Project. Dongcheng is also the first district in northern China to receive the honor of "International Garden City" bestowed by UN. In addition, the district first launched a three-year action plan of "Making Space for Green". As a result, Ande City Forest Park and Yandun Park have been built and altogether 13 pocket parks have been established in areas like Xiaowei Hutong West and Xiangheyuan. The above-mentioned endeavors are a testament to the district's further pursuit of "Garden-Like Dongcheng".