Well-known as “Hometown of Confucius” and “City of the Grand Canal”, Jining is one of the most important birthplace of Chinese culture, the birthplace of five cultural saints: Confucius, Mencius, Yanzi, Zengzi and Zisizi. Located in southwest Shandong province, covering an area of 11 million square meters, with a population of 8.3 million, Jining has 12 counties and districts with one national level New & High Tech Zone. The GDP of Jining city reached RMB 228 billion in 2009, ranked No. 6 in Shandong, with a tax revenue of RMB 13.47 billion, ranked No. 5 in the province. Jining is one of the most important industrial and agricultural cities in Shandong province. Its main industries include chemicals, machinery, special purpose vehicles, bio-science technology, new materials, optoelectronics and information technology, etc.