Briefly known as Xi and situated along the corridor between rivers and lakes in the Yangtze River Delta, Wuxi is a famous “land of fish and rice” in China with a total area of 4787.61 square kilometers. Wuxi is the cradle of China’s national industry and township industry. Its developed commerce has formed a strong radiating capacity in the country. With beautiful sceneries, Wuxi is one of the excellent tourism cities in China. Wuxi’s well-formed basic education is the cradle for professors, academicians and university presidents. As the “Pearl of Taihu Lake”, Wuxi is a renowned southern city with a history of three thousand years.

In 2008, the GDP of the city reached RMB 441.95 billion with an increase of 12.4% over that of the previous year and a per capita GDP of RMB 73,053. The proportion of tertiary industry accounts for 41% in the city’s GDP with an increase of 0.9 percentage points on that of last year. The average disposable income per resident amounts to RMB 23,605, with an annual increase of 13%. The average net income for farmers is RMB 11,280, with an increase of 12.5% over the previous year. Wuxi is the major transport hub in east China with the formation of a three-dimensional transportation network composed of the integration of railway, highway, waterway and aviation.