Huainan

A prefecture-level city in central Anhui Province, China. An industrial city located on the Huai River, it is also a key location for land and water transportation. It has jurisdiction over five city districts and two counties (as of 2016). Its population was 2,462,734 (2010). In 1950, Huainan City was established by merging the Huainan Mining Area and parts of the four counties of Shouxian, Fengtai, Huaiyuan, and Fengyang. The Huaifu Line, a branch of the Huainan Line (Huainan-Wuhu), branches off from Shuijiahu and passes through the city to connect to Fuyang.

The Huainan coalfield spreads across the areas of Bafangshan and Shungengshan within the city limits, and together with the Huaibei coalfield, it is called the Two Huai coalfields. Although coal mining has a long history, it was not fully developed until 1939, when the Sino-Japanese joint venture Huainan Coal Mine Company was established. It was later placed under Japanese control along with the Huainan Line. After World War II, the area recovered rapidly, and with the discovery of new coal beds in 1953, coal production increased dramatically, becoming a major force supporting industrial development in the East China region. As of 2016, the annual coal production volume was about 100 million tons, and the city has a fully automated coal-washing plant and is also important as a supplier of coking coal. In addition to the machinery industry, coal chemical complexes have been built using the abundant coal as raw material, and energy-related industries such as electricity have also developed significantly.

[Kazuo Hayashi, Editorial Department, July 19, 2017]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、安徽(あんき)省中部の地級市。淮河沿岸に位置する工業都市で、水陸交通の要地でもある。5市轄区、2県を管轄する（2016年時点）。人口246万2734（2010）。1950年に淮南鉱区と寿(じゅ)県、鳳台(ほうだい)、懐遠(かいえん)、鳳陽(ほうよう)の4県の一部を合併させて淮南市を設けた。淮南線（淮南―蕪湖(ぶこ)）の支線である淮阜線が水家湖から分かれて市内を通り阜陽(ふよう)に通じる。

　市域内の八方山、舜耕(しゅんこう)山一帯に淮南炭田が広がり、淮北炭田とあわせて両淮炭田とよばれる。採炭の歴史は古いが、本格的に開発されたのは、1939年に日中合弁の淮南煤礦公司(ばいこうコンス)が設立されてからである。のち淮南線とともに日本の支配下に置かれた。第二次世界大戦後急速に復興し、1953年の新炭層の発見により産炭量は飛躍的に増加して、華東地区の工業発展を支える大きな力となった。2016年時点の産炭量は年間1億トン程度で、完全自動化された選炭工場をもち、コークス炭供給地としても重要である。機械工業のほか、豊富な石炭を原料に石炭化学コンビナートが建設され、電力をはじめとするエネルギー関連産業の発展も著しい。

［林　和生・編集部　2017年7月19日］

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