Harbin is a sub-provincial city and the capital of the Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China. It lies on the southern bank of the Songhua River. Harbin is the tenth largest city in China (population 9.87 million), and serves as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural and communications hub in Northeastern China. While Dalian is considered the regions shipping center and Shenyang its financial hub, Harbin is striving hard towards becoming the key trade and shopping center of the region. The city is located in one of the fastest growing regions in the world and can boast a number of advantages such as an abundance of natural resources, good transport system and plenty of human resources. In 2008, Harbin's GDP reached RMB286.82 billion, an increase of 13.2 percent from the previous year. Tertiary industry output is the largest component of GDP reaching RMB140.04 billion in 2008, an increase of 13.9 percent from 2007. The total value for imports and exports by