Hebei:
 

Hebei (help·info) (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: Héběi; Postal map spelling: Hopeh) is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "冀" (jì), named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province (zhou) that included what is now southern Hebei. The name Hebei means "north of the river", referring to its location completely above the Yellow River.
 
In 1928, Hebei was formed after the central government dissolved the province of Chih-li (直隸), which means "Directly Ruled (by the Imperial Court)".
 
Beijing and Tianjin Municipalities, which border each other, were carved out of Hebei. The province borders Liaoning to the northeast, Inner Mongolia to the north, Shanxi to the west, Henan to the south, and Shandong to the southeast. Bohai Bay of the Yellow Sea is to the east. A small part of Hebei, an exclave disjointed from the rest of the province, is wedged between the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin.
 
A common alternate name for Hebei is Yānzhào (燕趙), after the state of Yan and state of Zhao that existed here during the Warring States Period of early Chinese history.

In 2011, Hebei's GDP was 2.40 trillion yuan (US$379 billion),[5] an increase of 11% over the previous year and ranked 6th in the PRC. GDP per capita reached 24,428 Renminbi. Disposable income per capita in urban areas was 13,441 RMB, while rural pure income per capita was 4,795 RMB. The primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors of industry contributed 203.46 billion, 877.74 billion, and 537.66 billion RMB respectively. The registered urban unemployment rate was 3.96%. 

A corner in downtown Zhangjiakou.

40% of Hebei's labor force works in the agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry sectors, with the majority of production from these industries going to Beijing and Tianjin[6] Hebei's main agricultural products are cereal crops including wheat, maize, millet, and sorghum. Cash crops like cotton, peanut, soya bean and sesame are also produced.
 
Kailuan, with a history of over 100 years, is one of China's first modern coal mines, and remains a major mine with an annual production of over 20 million metric tonnes. Much of the North China Oilfield is found in Hebei, and there are also major iron mines at Handan and Qian'an. Iron, as well as steel, manufacturing are the largest industries in Hebei, and are likely to remain so as these industries consolidate and Hebei continues to grow as a manufacturing and transportation center for the region.
 
Hebei's industries include textiles, coal, steel, iron, engineering, chemical production, petroleum, power, ceramics and food.
 
Economic and technological development zones

 Baoding Hi-Tech Industry Development Zone
 Langfang Export Processing Zone
 Qinhuangdao Economic & Technological Development Zone
 Qinhuangdao Export Processing Zone
 Shijiazhuang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone