Yongkang, Zhejiang

"Yongkang City" redirects here. For the district in Tainan, Taiwan, see Yongkang District.

Yongkang 永康市 Yungkang
County-level city
Xijin Bridge
Yongkang Location in Zhejiang
Coordinates: 28°54′N 120°02′E
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Zhejiang
Prefecture-level city	Jinhua
Area
• Total	1,046.02 km2 (403.87 sq mi)
Population  (2010 census)
• Total	723,490
• Density	690/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code	321300
Area code	0579
Website	http://www.yk.gov.cn/

Yongkang (Chinese: 永康; pinyin: Yǒngkāng), formerly known as Lizhou (Chinese: 丽州; pinyin: Lìzhōu), is a county-level city located in the central part of Zhejiang province, in the People's Republic of China. It is southeast of the Jinhua City boundary, approximately 180 km (111.8 mi) away from Hangzhou. It has an area of 1,049 km² (405 sq mi) and a population of 536,000, including more than 100,000 non-resident workers. According to a 2010 census, its metro area of Yongkang City and Wuyi County, was home to 1,073,389 inhabitants. Yongkang is known as the "hardware capital of China".

History

A map of the Yongkang government office during the Qing dynasty

The Chinese name Yongkang means "eternal well-being." The city was formally established during the period of the Wu Kingdom (222–280 CE) and the Three Kingdoms (220–280 CE) in 245 CE. In the last two decades, the city has become known for both its aggressive promotion of tourism and its booming hardware manufacturing industry. It is widely considered the "Hardware Capital of China," in addition to Shenzhen, with both cities receiving the title upon various occasions. In 2003, Yongkang's GDP ranked 47th out of over one thousand counties nationwide.

Lizhou was the ancient name of Yongkang. According to legend, when the mother of Sun Quan, the King of Wu, was ill, she went on a pilgrimage to pray for "eternal well-being" at a temple in Lizhou. After she recovered, Sun Quan was very pleased and named the area Yongkang ("eternal well-being") after her speedy recovery. At that time, it was a part of Wushang City; however, during the Tang dynasty, Yongkang was promoted under the name Lizhou, eventually becoming the general administrative area of the Yue Prefecture.

In 1992, the State Council approved Yongkang as a county-level city.

Administrative divisions

Subdistricts:

• Dongcheng Subdistrict (东城街道)
• Xicheng Subdistrict (西城街道)
• Jiangnan Subdistrict (江南街道)

Towns:

• Zhiying (芝英镇)
• Shizhu (石柱镇)
• Gushan (古山镇)
• Xiangzhu (象珠镇)
• Longshan (龙山镇)
• Huajie (花街镇)
• Qiancang (前仓镇)
• Zhoushan (舟山镇)
• Fangyan (方岩镇)
• Xixi (西溪镇)
• Tangxuan (唐先镇)

Economy

Since ancient times, Yongkang has been known for its hardware production. After 30 years of reform and modernization, Yongkang evolved from traditional to modern hardware, accelerating the pace of industrial upgrading and product branding. The county then became known domestically and abroad as a "hardware capital".

The city of Yongkang has always enjoyed the name "City of Metals", as metals and machinery are its flagship industry. Other types of production in the city have grown consistently; these include the industries for electric tools, building materials, and automobile/motorcycle accessories. Additionally, the city is a national base for the production of electric tools, automobile/motorcycle accessories, anti-theft doors, electric bicycles, scooters, and thermal cups.

To prevent industrial theft from occurring, the Yongkang door industry, which has maintained its growth since 1997, has now become the eighth-largest Yongkang hardware industry; it is one of the largest and most stable industries in the world. In 2020, facing an unprecedented economic crisis, the industry still maintained strong growth momentum in the first half of the year, with a growth rate of 18%. Dominating Yongkang hardware products has become the calling card of the city, and beginning with the manufacture of metal gates, the industry now has 454 enterprise portal products. An industry-year output value of 100 billion yuan accounts for 70% of the national output of anti-theft doors. The reason for the Yongkang door industry's success is that from the early stage of development the industry places significant importance on their product's quality. The consensus among Yongkang door producers remains in a commitment to "establishing the brand, standards, and innovation". Yongkang produces four anti-theft doors every day, accounting for 1% of the national output of anti-theft doors.

52% of the national output of stainless steel tableware comes from Yongkang. 45% of the national output of the daily-use weighing apparatus comes from Yongkang. A third of the national output of power tools comes from Yongkang. Packaging drums, building non-slip case scales, the degree of scales, and other products accounted for more than 90% of the domestic market. Scooters, gas stove burners accounted for 90% of the total exports. Pumps accounted for 50% of the total exports. Saw blades accounted for 1/3 of the total exports. Weighing manufacturing enterprises accounted for 35/235 of the national output.

Geographical

Yongkang is located in the central part of Zhejiang province, in the People's Republic of China. It is southeast of the Jinhua City boundary, approximately 180 km (111.8 mi) away from Hangzhou. It has an area of 1,049 km² (405 sq mi).

Cityscape

• 
  Yongkang at night (2008)
• 
  Confluence of Hua Brook (华溪) on the left and Nan Brook (南溪) on the right, forming the Yongkang River (永康江) in the middle (2010)

See also

• Xijin Bridge, a famous covered bridge in China

External links

• The city of doors.china doors city
• Official site
• City Map