Fujian

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Empire, where it remained apart from a period during the first half of the 10th C. As early as the 11th C foreign trade developed, and this was always an important factor for Fujian. Increasing overseas trade saw the beginning of a wave of emigrants to southeast Asia, among other places, After 1949 the Taiwan question brought a reduction in external trade.

Fujian is classed as a Special Economic Zone, which resulted in somewhat frenzied economic development during the 1980s. Important factors in its economy are the cultivation of rice (two harvests each year), tea and sugar-cane, as well as the timber industry and fishing. Other agricultural products include sweet potatoes, citrus fruits, bananas, wheat, ground-nuts, rape and tobacco.

In the industrial sector food, steel and chemicals are of importance. Major minerals include coal, iron-ore, copper and wolfram.

In addition to the capital Fuzhou, Xiamen and Quanzhou possess places of interest to travellers.