Shijiazhuang is the capital and largest city of North China's Hebei province. Located at about 280 kilometres (170 mi) southwest of Beijing, and it administers 6 districts, 5 county-level cities, and 12 counties. (Find Shijiazhuang on a map).
In 2010 Shijiazhuang had a population of 10,163,788 inhabitants. Newly industrialised city its population has more than quadrupled in only 30 years. It is a central hub of transportation routes. The city is home to a large garrison of military troops situated to protect Beijing.
Shijiazhuang has become a major industrial city in North China and is considered to be the economic center of Hebei province
The city is the largest base for the pharmaceutical industry and is also one of the most important textile industry bases. Other main sectors include machinery and chemicals, building materials, light industry and electronics.
With abundant agricultural resources, Shijiazhuang has 590,000 hectares of cultivated land and is the main source of high quality cotton, pears, dates and walnuts in Hebei province.