Jixi

Jixi, Wade Giles romanization Chi-hsi, city in southeastern Heilongjiang sheng (province), China. Located on the upper Muleng River, a tributary of the Ussuri (Wusuli) River, it is in a mountainous area rich in timber and various minerals including coal, iron, graphite, fluorite, and limestone. Jixi is, however, predominantly a coal-mining city, with some of the largest and best-equipped coal mines in China and one of the highest coal outputs in the country. Its coal is of high quality and is suitable for coking and for use in the chemical industry. Jixi also has a phosphate mine. The city’s industries include electric-power generation, the manufacture of construction materials and machinery, and chemical production. Jixi also processes a large quantity of lumber, with much of the timber being used in the local mines. There is also an engineering industry, which was established to serve the mines. Jixi is linked by rail to the line from Jiamusi to Mudanjiang (both in Heilongjiang province) and has branch lines running to the Russian border areas.

The Jixi region remained a stretch of wilderness until 1909, when coal deposits were discovered and began to be exploited; its population expanded rapidly thereafter. It was made a county named Jining in 1941, renamed Jixi in 1949, and designated a city in 1956. Pop. (2002 est.) city, 757,640; (2007 est.) urban agglom., 965,000.