Concept

Jiangsu

Overview

Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fourth most populous, with a population of 84.75 million, and the most densely populated of the 22 provinces of the People's Republic of China. Jiangsu has the highest GDP per capita and second-highest GDP of Chinese provinces, after Guangdong. Jiangsu borders Shandong in the north, Anhui to the west, and Zhejiang and Shanghai to the south. Jiangsu has a coastline of over 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) along the Yellow Sea, and the Yangtze flows through the southern part of the province.

Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, Jiangsu has been a national economic and commercial center, partly due to the construction of the Grand Canal. Cities such as Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, and Shanghai (separated from Jiangsu in 1927) are all major Chinese economic hubs. Since the initiation of economic reforms in 1990, Jiangsu has become a focal point for economic development. It is widely regarded as one of China's most developed provinces, when measured by its Human Development Index (HDI). Its 2025 nominal GDP per capita reached CN¥167,970 (US$24,113), becoming the first province in China to reach the $20,000 mark in 2021.

Jiangsu is home to many of the world's leading exporters of electronic equipment, chemicals and textiles. It has also been China's largest recipient of foreign direct investment since 2006. In 2025, its GDP was more than CN¥14.24 trillion (US$2 trillion nominal), which is the sixth-highest of all administrative divisions. If it were a country, it would be the twelfth-largest economy as of 2022 as well as the 19th most populous.

Jiangsu is also one of the leading provinces in research and education in China. As of 2022, Jiangsu hosts 168 institutions of higher education, ranking first of all Chinese provinces. Jiangsu has many highly ranked educational institutions, with 16 of its universities listed in the Double First-Class Construction, ranking second after Beijing. As of 2025, six major cities in Jiangsu ranked in the world's top 200 (Nanjing 5th, Suzhou 33rd, Zhenjiang 98th, Yangzhou 118th, Wuxi 161st, and Changzhou 173rd) cities by scientific research output, as tracked by the Nature Index.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

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In the stationary state, though capital does not on the whole increase, some persons grow richer and others poorer. Those whose degree of providence is below the usual standard become impoverished, their capital perishes, and makes room for the savings of those whose effective desire of accumulation exceeds the average. These become the natural purchasers of the lands, manufactories, and other instruments of…
John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy
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The supplying of those ships with every sort of fresh provisions, with fruit, and sometimes with wine, affords alone a very extensive market for the surplus produce of the colonies. What the Cape of Good Hope is between Europe and every part of the East Indies, Batavia is between the principal countries of the East Indies. It lies upon the most frequented road from Indostan to China and Japan, and is nearly about…
Adam Smith, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
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The military governors of provinces or groups of provinces, who are called Tuchuns, govern despotically in defiance of Peking, and commit depredations on the inhabitants of the districts over which they rule. They intercept the revenue, except the portions collected and administered by foreigners, such as the salt tax. They are nominally appointed by Peking, but in practice depend only upon the favour of the…
Bertrand Russell, The Problem of China
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Jiangsu

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