Siping

Siping, city, southwestern Jilin sheng (province), northeastern China. It is located near the border with neighbouring Liaoning province.

Siping is centrally situated in the northern Liao River portion of the Northeast (Manchurian) Plain. It was a place of little importance until the completion in 1902 of the railway between Changchun (the provincial capital) and the port of Dalian in what is now Liaoning province. It then became a commercial centre in an area with a rapidly growing population. Its importance was further increased with the construction in 1923 of a rail link to Baicheng in northwestern Jilin and later farther north to Qiqihar (in what is now Heilongjiang province) and the opening in 1939 of a railway running south to Tonghua and to northern Korea. After 1907, under the administration of the South Manchurian Railway Company, there was considerable development. A new town was built after 1921, at first known as Sipingjie and renamed Siping in 1941. After 1932, under the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, some agriculture-based industry (brewing, oil pressing, flour milling) grew up, and, in the latter part of World War II, the Japanese built a refinery for the production of synthetic petroleum from coal. After the war, Siping was virtually destroyed in four major battles between the Chinese communist and Nationalist forces.

After 1949 the city was developed as a second-rank industrial centre. The petrochemical industry was reestablished, and various engineering plants, producing agricultural machinery and machine tools, were built. Diversified chemical manufactures have been concentrated there, and the city has retained its former light industries based on local agriculture. In addition to being a railway hub, the city is on the main highway and expressway from Changchun to Dalian. Pop. (2002 est.) 508,533.