Kaohsiung

a city in China, in the province of Taiwan. Population, 720,000 (1968). Located on the southwest shore of the island on the Formosa Strait, it commands a large natural harbor. After Chiulung, it is the second most important port in Taiwan, handling 11 million tons of freight in 1969. Its economic growth began when it was opened for foreign trade in the second half of the 19th century. From the end of that century, it has become one of the chief industrial centers of the island, important for the smelting of aluminum (since 1935), machine building, shipbuilding, cement, chemicals (superphosphates), and oil refining. There is also production of sugar, alcohol, canned goods, and so on.