MA-AN-SHAN

Pinyin Ma'anshan, new city and industrial centre in southeastern Anhwei sheng (province). Ma-an-shan is situated on the south bank of the Yangtze River some 22 miles (35 km) downstream from Wu-hu, near the border of Kiangsu sheng, opposite Ho-hsien. The city is on the railway between Wu-hu and Nan-ching (Nanking). The region along the southern bank of the Yangtze between Ma-an-shan and T'ung-ling (about 150 miles upstream) has long been a mining area. The development of a modern metallurgical industry was made possible by the opening of the Huai-nan coalfield in the mid-1930s and by the construction of the Huai-nanHo-feiY-ch'i-k'ou railway. After 1938, under Japanese occupation, a small steelworks and an iron-smelting plant were established. They were, however, destroyed late in World War II, and the local iron minesmost of whose production had been shipped to Japanwere abandoned. After 1949 the smelting plant was restored, and it resumed production in 1953. During the First Five-Year Plan (195357), Ma-an-shan rapidly grew into a major industrial centre. In the early 1950s Ma-an-shan's iron production was increased to supply the steel industry in Shanghai. Under the Second Five-Year Plan (195862), it was decided to develop Ma-an-shan into an integrated iron and steel complex. Sulfur is also mined in the area. Pop. (1988 est.) 279,000.