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　　Located in the northwest of Jiangxi Province and established as a city in August 2000, Yichun now governs 10 counties, county-level citiesanddistricts—Yuanzhou, Zhangshu,Fengcheng,Jing’an,Fengxin,Gao’an, Shanggao, Yifeng, Tonggu and Wanzai, and 3characteristicareas—Yichun Economic Development Zone, Yiyang New District and Mingyueshan Hot Spring Scenic Spot. Yichun has a total land area of 18,700 square kilometers, taking up one ninth oftheprovince’s land area andranking6^thin the province. It boasts a population of 6.1 million which accounts for about one eighth of the province andranks3^rdin theprovince.

　　Yichun is a cultural city of a longhistory.It’s namedfor“the delightful spring near thecityproper”. Established as a county in the sixth year ofEmperorGaozu’s Reign in the Han Dynasty (in 201 B.C.), Yichun has a history of about 2200 years, reputedas“A Gorgeous Land in Jiangnan and A Place of Cultural RelicsandProsperity”. The placeof“natural treasures,outstandingpeople”as described in Preface to Tengwang Pavilion by literary magnate WANG Bo. Yichun is a holy land of Zen Buddhism. Among the One Sect and Five Schools, three schools (Linji, Weiyang and Caodong) were born in Yichun. The Mazu Built Taoist Venue and Baozhang Established Monastic Rules for Buddhists with epoch-making significance in the history of Buddhism took placeinJing’an County and Fengxin County respectively, well-known in the domestic and international Buddhist circles. Yichun is a town of culture as 4,533 immovable historical relics have been registered in the city. Zhangshu Wucheng Cultural Site overturns the argument that Shangculturedidn’t cross the YangtzeRiver;Jing’an Eastern Zhou Ancient Tomb was rated one of 2017 China Top 10 New Archaeological Findings. Yichun is a cultural resort. HAN Yu, the leading member of Eight Masters in Tang and Song Dynasties, founded Changli Academy inYuanzhou.It’s the native place of LU Zhao and YI Chong, the first and second Number One Scholar of Jiangxi Province. In its heyday, Yichun is known for half of successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations in Jiangxi Province coming from Yuanzhou. TAO Yuanming, a noted poet in the Jin Dynasty, KUANG Zhong, a well-known upright official in the Ming Dynasty, SONG Yingxing, the author of Exploitation of the Works of Nature, and WU Youxun, a modern physicist, are all natives of Yichun. Yichun is the fief of XIE Lingyun, father of landscape poetry, and the birthplace of WANG Anshi, a noted politician in the Northern Song Dynasty. Furthermore, Yichun is an old revolutionary base where MAO Zedong, PENG Dehuai and TENG Daiyuan fought. Tonggu County is one of the cradles of the Autumn Harvest Uprising; Xianyuan Township of Wanzai County was the place where CPC Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi Provincial Committees and Provincial Soviet Governmentswerestationed.

　　Yichun is a resource-rich county, known as a Supreme Agricultural County from of old. Its grain, oil, pig and meat yield and stock volume of moso bamboo, planting area and yield of Chinese medical herbs, organic agricultural products, kiwi fruit and lily ranks first in theprovince.It’s one of the 28 major grain producing areas and a key moso bamboo producing area in China. With a selenium-rich soil area of 7.8 million mu (1 mu=0.0667 hectares) and a potential selenium-rich soil area of 7.65 million mu (1 mu=0.0667 hectares), Yichun is oneofChina’s three selenium-richplaces.It’s also rich in underground mineral resources. There are 56 kinds of explored minerals, and 2.6 million tons of available lithium oxide reserves which take up 37.6% of the national total; the rubidium reserves amount to 360,000 tons, taking up three fifths of the world total; the tantalum reserves add up to 15,000 tons, taking up 13% of the world total; the wollastonite reserves account for one fourths of the national total, and the raw coal reserves and rock salt reserves rank first intheprovince.

　　Yichun is an easily accessible inland thoroughfare. Beijing-Kowloon Railway Line, Zhejiang-Jiangxi Double-line Railway, Shanghai to Kunming High-speed Railway, and Menghua Railway Line under construction run across Yichun.Eightexpressways—Shanghai-Ruili Expressway, Nanchang-Tonggu Expressway, Nanchang-Shangli Expressway, Dongxiang-Changfu Expressway, Ganzhou-Heyuan Expressway, Daqing-Guangzhou Expressway, Yichun-Wanzai-Tonglu Expressway and Nanchang-Ningdu Expressway span across the city, with each county accessible through the expressway network. For airway transportation, Yichun Mingyueshan Airport has put eight direct air routes into operation, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. For waterway transportation, Yichun can connect with the Yangtze River Economic Zone and city clusters in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River through theGanjiangRiver.

　　Yichun is a livable ecological home offering a favorable business environment. Mostly composed of hills and mountainousregions,it’s endowed with a mild climate, abundant rainfall and four distinctiveseasons.It’s known for picturesque scenery, fertile soil and sweet springs, a delightful climate and four distinctive seasons. With a forest coverage rate of57.09%,it’s home to 3 national ecological counties, 28 national and provincial forest parks, natural reserves and scenic spots. Mingyueshan Scenic Spot, 1736 meters above sea level, is an AAAAA scenic spot. The negative oxygen ion content is as high as 70,000 ions per cubic centimeters, 35 times of the national standard, making it a true natural oxygen bar. The Wentang selenium-rich hot springs maintain a water temperature of68^oC to72^oC throughout the year and have a daily flow of 10,000 tons, which are drinkable, bathable and medicative. Mingyueshan Scenic Spot is rated as National Scenic Spot, and Wentang Town is honored as World Famous Health Town of Hot Springs. The water quality of main rivers and air quality of the city are compliant with national standards. Yichun has been awarded with about 20 honorary titles, including China Outstanding Tourist City, National Health City, China Livable City, National Forest City, one of China First Batch of Pilot Health Cities. Holding the Moon Cultural Tourism Festival for 13 years in a row, Yichun aspires to build the urban brand of Capital of the Moon. While vigorously advancing the construction of National Pilot Zone for Ecological Civilization, we have launched pilot operations in relation to ecology + big health industry development, mandatory garbage classification, preparation of natural resources balance sheet, rural environment improvement government purchases, and water resource use right authentication registration, constantly improving theecologicalquality.

　　Yichun is a civilized city with unsophisticated folkway. Edified and influenced by the farming-reading culture and Zen culture over the years, Yichun people are hardworking and simple, fond of literature and kind-hearted, respectful to elderly people and caring for children, honest and trustworthy, upholding high moral standards. Through more educational practices of socialist core values in recent years, the simple folkway has been carried forward, generating a stream of good people and good deeds. Thus far 209 people have been incorporated into the List of Good People in China, which allows Yichun to come out top in China and rank first in theprovince.TheNational Symposium onCaringMoralModelswas held in Yichun. WANG Maohua, TAN Liangcai and ZHI Yueying were respectively rated as 2010 and 2016 CCTV Top Ten Figures Who MoveChina.CCTV’s Jiaodianfangtan showreportedYichun’s cultureofkindness.

　　Yichun is an industrial new town on the rise. There is 1 national economic and technological development zone, 1 national high-tech zone, 2 provincial high-tech zones and 7 provincial industrial parks. Centering on the construction of Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei Regional Central City, vigorous efforts are made to implement the strategy of rejuvenating the city with industries and thriving the city with industrial engineering. It has been decided to develop three centers and one base (regional recreational and sports center, recreational tourism, resort and trade center, medical, health and wellness center, new material, new energy, electronics information, pharmaceutical machinery manufacturing base) in the central urban area, and grow the counties into characteristic, vibrant and competitive characteristic county economic sectors. Great efforts will be made to advance the construction of major projects like intelligent economic industry characteristic town, education and sports new district, Yiwan economic corridor, Yuanzhou ancient city cultural rejuvenation project and Jinyuan new district. The lithium battery new energy industry has grown into a size ranking the top three in China; about 100 big data enterprises, including HUAWEI, have been incorporated here; the traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacy industry has broken the record of no ten billion yuan enterprise and one hundred billion yuan industry in Yichun. In 2019, Yichun had a GDP growth of 7.6%, a total fiscal income growth of 4.5%, a fixed asset investment growth of 9.5%, an industrial added value of 8.4% of enterprises above designated size, and a total retail sales of consumer goodsof11.4%.