Tianjin, also called “Jin” for short, has other names of Jingu and Jin-men, etc.. The name “Tianjin”, which means “Emperor’s port”, was adopted in the first year of Yongle Reign in Ming Dynasty. In the second year of Yongle Reign (1404), Tianjin became a walled garrison and began to be known as “Tianjin Wei”.
Since being opened as a trading port in 1860, Tianjin had become the front of the opened north of China as well as the base of the Westernization Movement of modern China. Tianjin had taken the first steps in the whole country in military modernization, which was originated from Tianjin, as well as in the construction of railway, telegraph, telephone, post, mining, modern education and even justice. Tianjin had become the second largest industrial and commercial city as well as the largest financial and trade center of north China at that time.
After the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, Tianjin, as a municipality directly under the central government, has undergone an overall growth both in economic construction and social affairs. After China adopted the policy of reform and opening up in 1978, Tianjin became one of the first coastal cities in China opened to the outside world. By the end of 2008, its total output value had in-creased to RMB 635.438 billion from RMB 8.265 billion of that 30 years ago. If computed in terms of comparable price, the output annual growth rate was above 10%. Tianjin already becomes the important strength concerning area economic growth and country overall strategy.
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