Published : 2025-03-12
Which city in China has the highest GDP per capita? Surprisingly, it's not Beijing or Shanghai, but a place you may never have heard of—Ordos (鄂爾多斯), a "fourth-tier city" in China.
Where is Ordos and how did it become so wealthy?
Almost half of Ordos' land is desert
First, let's locate it: Ordos is in the southwestern part of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, inside the "bend" of the Yellow River, 200 kilometres southwest of the autonomous region's capital, Hohhot, and more than 500 kilometres from the national capital, Beijing. In Mongolian, Ordos means "many palaces."
The city's area is over 80,000 square kilometres, nearly half the size of Guangdong Province. However, the Kubuqi Desert (庫布其沙漠) and Maowusu Sandy Land (毛烏素沙地) take up nearly half of its area.
There are also vast grasslands used for grazing, so the resident population is not large. As of early 2025, it only has over 2.2 million people.
Additionally, although Ordos is located in Inner Mongolia, about 90% of its residents are Han Chinese, with less than 10% being Mongolian.
This population structure has a certain relationship with the "migration to the west," which was a "migration wave" from the Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China. A large number of Han people migrated to the southwestern part of present-day Inner Mongolia to open up wasteland due to livelihood reasons.
Speaking of which, Ordos has a fairly long history, but before the end of the 20th century, it was just an economically underdeveloped small place.
Even if people knew that this place existed, they might think of only cashmere, due to the ads that ran during prime time on China Central Television stating "Ordos cashmere sweater, warming the world."
Cashmere is the undercoat of goats closest to the skin, priced far higher than ordinary wool.
Genghis Khan Mausoleum is a landmark of Ordos
At that time, people might also think of the Genghis Khan Mausoleum. Indeed, the mausoleum of Genghis Khan, the founding monarch of the Mongol Empire, is in Ordos, and it has always been an important landmark of the city, although many believe it is just a ceremonial burial site.
Students might also know about Ordos, but what they probably know is the Ordos Plateau from their textbooks, not a city, because Ordos only adopted its current name in 2001. Previously, the area was called Yikezhao League (伊克昭盟), and its urban area was Dongsheng.
Why did Ordos suddenly "get rich" later? The answer is natural resources.
Mainland China media say that what made Ordos proud is the "sheep, coal, clay, and gas." The pronunciation of these four words in Chinese happens to be identical to that of the Chinese idiom "揚眉吐氣", which means "to feel elated and proud" and conveys a sense of relief and pride after overcoming difficulties or achieving success.
Read more: Where is the highest village in China located?
"Sheep, coal, clay, and gas" help Ordos to become wealthy
"Sheep" refers to the cashmere previously mentioned, with Ordos cashmere products accounting for 1/4 of the global production;
"coal" refers to coal, with 70% of the local area having coal seams underground, accounting for 1/6 of the country's reserves;
"clay" refers to kaolin widely used in industry, with Ordos possessing half of the country's reserves;
"gas" refers to natural gas, with the city's proven reserves accounting for half of the country's total.
Entering the 21st century, China's economy developed rapidly, and the demand for natural resources surged.
Although coal prices fluctuated due to regulatory control during this period, the treasure trove of Ordos was not much affected, and its economic scale continued to increase. During this period, it wasn't just the "coal bosses," most residents also saw their incomes rise.
How wealthy are the people of Ordos?
In 2011, media reports stated that some residents considered those with assets less than RMB 3 million to be "poor," and there were more luxury cars than taxis in the city.
Of course, Ordos' economic scale is far from catching up with those trillion-level Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen.
However, the local population of Ordos is quite small, so its GDP per capita is very high. The related rankings continue to rise, and this "fourth-tier city" has consistently topped the list for years.
Ordos surpasses major Chinese big cities
In a media report from February 2025, it was shown that Ordos ranked first, with a GDP per capita of RMB 286,500 in 2024, nearly three times the national average.
Among Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, the closest was Beijing in 3rd place, with just over RMB 228,000, a considerable gap.
Shanghai and Shenzhen ranked 5th and 7th, with GDP per capita of over RMB 216,000 and RMB 206,000, respectively.
Which city is ranked 2nd? It is Karamay (克拉瑪依), Xinjiang, a "fifth-tier city" that once topped the list. Like Ordos, Karamay is a resource-based city as well, with its "specialty" being oil.
And Guangzhou? It didn't even make it into the top 10.
It is worth mentioning that Ordos began the construction of a large-scale, modernised new district, Kangbashi (康巴什), in 2004. The new district once had very few residents, with nine out of ten houses empty, being described as a "ghost town."
However, media reports say that after years of development, the situation has significantly changed, and it has become the new image of Ordos.
Lastly, Ordos has the highest GDP per capita in Mainland China; but looking at the whole of China, the city ranks slightly lower, with Hong Kong and Macao ahead of it.
