Qiqihar

Port and city in Heilongjiang province, northeast China, on the River Nen 300 km/186 mi northwest of Harbin; population (2000) 1,338,600. It grew as a military base and a centre of communications for the province, and served as a focal point for Han Chinese colonization of Manchuria. It developed rapidly after 1949, and now has a wide range of industries, producing railway freight rolling stock, machine tools, steel, mining equipment, and wood products.