Yizheng is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture City. On the northern bank of Yangzhou, Yizheng is situated in the north of Jiangsu and the Yangtze River lies in its southern territory. The city borders Luhe District of Nanjing on west, Yangzhou Metropolis on east and Tianchang of Anhui Province on north. The city owns a riverbank of 27 km, facing Zhenjiang in opposite of the river. It was said that the name, Yizheng, was granted by the Emperor Zhenzon of the North Song Dynasty. As surprised to the true natures of statues he ordered to mould in the town, the emperor was pleasant to name the statues with “Yizhen”. Later, the town took it as its own name for a honour. But the name was abandoned twice of times as it had the same vocal sound with two emperors’ names, which was against the law in the time that nobody could have a name pronounced the same with an emperor’s.

The city was already a well-known ancient trade town in the Song Dynasty. In 1984, the first chemical fiber manufacture giant in China, the Sinopec Yizheng Chemical Fibre Company Limited, was established in the city to speed up the city's economic growth.

The city was a traditional agriculture land in the past and this farm sector has been now in shrinking since 1982 after a major chemical corporation was settle down on its territory. Now the agriculture income occupies less than 5% of the city’s revenue. The principal agriculture products include rice, wheat, oil seed, vegetable, etc. As its abundant water resource, Yizheng produces diverse aquatic products including crab, shrimp, fish and various aquatic vegetables.

Important industrial sectors include auto parts manufacture, chemical fiber, textile, shipbuilding and repair, etc. Yizheng is also a logistics industrial hub associated with storing and transporting crude oil for Nanjing and Shandong Province.

Yizheng environment is still in a fine shape although there have been complains from residents for air pollutions and contamination incidents happened. The municipal government has spent significant funds to protect its environment and reduce the air pollution caused by greenhouse gas emission. Many polluters have been ordered to be shut down or be under a strict inspection.