Nestled by the Yellow River, Ordos shines like a bright pearl. Nurtured by the river and wisdom of the locals, the city radiates with a  long and splendid city history filled with story after story, each chapter an exciting testament to its unique development.

Geography

Sitting in the southwest of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and surrounded by the Yellow River on three sides, it is close to the Great Wall, with Shanxi, Shaanxi provinces and Ningxia Hui autonomous region in the south. "Ordos" literally translates to "numerous palaces" in Mongolian language. With two national natural conservation areas, the whole city covers an area of 87,000 square kilometers, featuring hilly regions to the east, plain and plateau land to the west, Maowusu desert to the south, and Kubuqi desert and plain terrain to the north. Summer temperatures average 21 C, and winters see a drop to -6.6 C. Annual precipitation settles at 341 millimeters, and Ordos generally enjoys superior weather conditions throughout the year.

Abundant resources

Ordos benefits from an abundance of resources, with more than 50 kinds of minerals. Local confirmed coal reserves stand at 201.7 billion tons, accounting for one sixth of total reserves across the country and half of all in Inner Mongolia. Gross coal reserves are estimated to be around 1 trillion tons. Local coal is of great quality, with low ash, sulfur and phosphorous content and higher calorific power. Proven natural gas reserves stand at 801.7 billion cubic meters, accounting for one third of nationwide reserves. One third of China's Alpine pure-white cashmere, known as fiber gem and soft gold, comes from Ordos. Kaolin, trona, salt, Glauber's salt, gypsum, limestone, purple clay and other resources are all in huge reserves in Ordos. The cultivated land area stands at 6.85 million mu (0.47 million hectares), including 4.5 million mu of irrigated land. Grassland covers an area of 100.69 million mu, of which 90 million mu can be utilized.

Economic and social development

Acting mayor Yu Haiyu presented the government work report. He highlighted Ordos' economic achievements in 2024, citing a record-breaking economy, significant results from the "Six Projects" initiative, the acceleration of industrial transformation, advancements in technological innovation, an improved ecological environment, increased efforts to reform and opening-up, progress in rural vitalization, and increased public welfare. He noted that the city successfully met its annual goals and set the stage for high-quality development.

Looking ahead to 2025, the final year of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), Yu outlined the expected targets for economic and social development: 6 percent GDP growth, 6.5 percent growth in the added value of industries above designated size, over 10 percent growth in fixed asset investment, around 2 percent growth in general public budget income, over 5 percent growth in retail sales of consumer goods, the creation of over 22,000 urban jobs, and stable inflation.