Xinxiang ( zh, s= , t= , p=Xīnxiāng ; postal: Sinsiang) is a

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...

in northern

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, China. It borders the provincial capital of

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan, China. Located in northern Henan, it is one of the nine National central city, national central cities in China, and serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational center of the province. Th ...

to its southwest,

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

to its southeast, Hebi and

Anyang Anyang ( zh, s=安阳, t=安陽; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan, China. Geographical coordinates are 35° 41'~ 36° 21' north latitude and 113° 38'~ 114° 59' east longitude. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the eas ...

to its north,

Jiaozuo Jiaozuo ( zh, s= , p=Jiāozuò ; postal: Tsiaotso) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Henan province, China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the south, Xinxiang to th ...

to its west, and the provinces of

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

and

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

to its northwest and east respectively. Its total population was 6,251,929 as of the

2020 Chinese Census The Seventh National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (), also referred to as the 2020 Chinese Census, was the seventh National Population Census of the People's Republic of China, national census conducted by the National Bure ...

. As of the 2018 estimation, 2,743,200 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of 4 urban districts ('' Weibin, Hongqi,

Muye Muye District () is a district of the city of Xinxiang, Henan province, China. History The BC Battle of Muye ended Shang hegemony over the Wei and Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in Ch ...

, Fenquan''), Yanjin county, Xinxiang county and Huixian City which are now being conurbated as the city is expanding very quickly. Xinxiang is an industrial city in northern Henan, an important city on the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and a city in the Central Plains urban agglomeration, and was once one of the eight major towns in northern China. In ancient times, there were major events that influenced the course of Chinese history, such as the Battle of Mingtiao, the

Battle of Muye The Battle of Muye, Mu, or Muh () was fought between forces of the ancient Chinese Shang dynasty led by King Zhou of Shang and the rebel state of Zhou led by King Wu. The Zhou defeated the Shang at Muye and captured the Shang capital Yin, ...

, and the Chenqiao Mutiny. Modern Xinxiang is China's excellent tourist city, national health city, national garden city, national forest city, and one of the top 100 cities in China in terms of comprehensive urban competitiveness.

History

During the period of Yao and Shun, China was divided into nine prefectures, and the city's territory belonged to Jizhou, Yanzhou and Yuzhou. At the end of the

Xia Dynasty The Xia dynasty (; ) is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, it was established by the legendary figure Yu the Great, after Emperor Shun, Shun, the last of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Fiv ...

, Shang Tang attacked Xia Jie, and the Battle of Mingtiao took place between Fengqiu County and Changyuan County, resulting in the defeat of Jie and the death of Xia. Xinxiang was the site of the

, where the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...

was overthrown by the armies of King Wu of Zhou. The region was first named Xinxiang in the 6th year of the Kaihuang era ( 586 AD) of the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

, when Xinxiang county was established in the territories of southwestern and eastern Huojia County. In 960 AD,

Later Zhou Zhou, known as the Later Zhou (; ) in historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty and the last of the Five Dynasties that controlled most of northern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Founded by Guo Wei ...

forces loyal to Zhao Kuangyin mutinied against the rule of Guo Zongxun at , located in modern-day Fengqiu County, and declared Zhao emperor, marking the beginning of the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

. Xinxiang served as the capital of the short-lived Pingyuan Province, which administered the neighboring cities of

, Hebi,

Puyang Puyang is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Henan province, People's Republic of China. Located on the northern shore of the Yellow River, it borders Anyang in the west, Xinxiang in the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Hebei ...

and Heze between 1949 and 1952. In July 2021, Xinxiang was harshly impacted by the flooding in Henan, which affected about 470,000 people and over of cropland.

Geography

Climate

Geographic location

Xinxiang is located in the northern part of

Province, between 113 degrees 23 minutes and 114 degrees 59 minutes east longitude and 34 degrees 53 minutes and 35 degrees 50 minutes north latitude. It is 600 kilometers away from the capital Beijing and 80 kilometers away from the provincial capital Zhengzhou. It is connected to the oil city Puyang in the east and to the west of Luxi. Bordering the Yellow River to the south, it is separated from

and

by the river; to the west, it is connected to

and shares a border with

. To the north, it relies on the Taihang and is adjacent to Hebi and

Pollution

According to a 2015 report by

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

(Xinxiang's province) has the most severe

air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

of all the provinces in China, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 103.3 μg/m3 (

microgram In the metric system, a microgram or microgramme is a unit of mass equal to one millionth () of a gram. The unit symbol is μg according to the International System of Units (SI); the recommended symbol in the United States and United Kingdom wh ...

s per

cubic meter The cubic metre (in Commonwealth English and international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or cubic meter (in American English) is the unit of volume in the International System of Units (SI). Its symbol is m ...

). The report found that Xinxiang has the 13th most polluted city air in China, with a PM2.5 concentration of 114.6 μg/m3 (over 11 times the safe limit established by the

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

) during the first quarter of 2015. Swiss firm IQAir reported that Xinxiang suffered from an average PM2.5 concentration of 51.5 μg/m3 in 2020, ranking 31st in China, and 89th in the world. In 2015, environmental

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

Airman () purchased wheat samples farmed in the town of Wangcun, in Xinxiang, near a battery factory, and found it had

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12 element, group 12, zinc and mercury (element), mercury. Like z ...

levels up to 17 times the national safe limit. The following year, the group again purchased wheat samples in the towns of and Wangcun, and found cadmium levels up to 34.1 times the national safe limit. Following this report, the Xinxiang municipal government launched a program to purchase contaminated wheat, and convert the farmland to other purposes. However, again in 2017, the group purchased additional wheat samples, and found them to have cadmium levels up to 18 times the national limit, with all samples purchased exceeding national safety limits. In response, government officials from the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of Dakuai met with the group, and pledged to further investigate the samples and stop growing wheat on contaminated farmland.

Religion

Xinxiang

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

are served by the Apostolic Prefecture of Xinxiang (), which was established on July 7, 1936, on missionary territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Weihuifu () (now Diocese of Jixian). It is a pre-diocesan jurisdiction, which is exempt (i.e., directly subject to the Holy See and its missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples), and not part of any

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

. It has had the following incumbent ''Apostolic Prefects of Xinxiang (Roman Rite) :'' * Father Thomas Megan (), Divine Word Missionaries S.V.D.) (born USA) (1936.07.07 – retired 1948), died 1951 * Fr. Johannes Schütte (), S.V.D. (born Germany) (1948 – death 1971.11.18), also

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...

of Society of the Divine Word (Divine Word Missionaries) (1958.03.28 – 1967.12.15) and Vice-Secretary of Pontifical Commission of Justice and Peace (1968–1971.11.18) * Joseph Zhang Wei-zhu () (first Chinese and secular priest) (1992, with clandestine episcopal consecration)

Military

Xinxiang is the headquarters of the 83rd Group Army of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

, one of the three group armies that comprise the Jinan Military Region responsible for the defense of the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

plain.

Administration

The

administers 4

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

, 3

county-level cities , map = , category = Third level administrative division of a unitary state , territory = People's Republic of China , upper_unit = Prefectures, Provinces , start_date = , current_number = 411 (408 controlled, 3 claimed) , number_da ...

and 5

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

. *District: ** Weibin District ** Hongqi District **

Muye District Muye District () is a district of the city of Xinxiang, Henan province, China. History The BC Battle of Muye ended Shang hegemony over the Wei and Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in Ch ...

** Fengquan District *County-level city: **

Huixian Huixian () is a county-level city under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xinxiang, in the northwest of Henan province, China, bordering Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provi ...

City ** Weihui City ** Changyuan City *County: ** Xinxiang County ** Huojia County ** Yuanyang County ** Yanjin County ** Fengqiu County

Population

By the end of 2022, the city's permanent population was 6.166 million, including 3.639 million urban residents and 2.527 million rural residents; The urbanization rate of permanent residents was 59.01%, an increase of 0.62 percentage points over the end of the previous year. 43,000 people were born, with a birth rate of 6.90 per thousand. 46,000 people died, with a mortality rate of 7.40 per thousand. The natural decrease of population was 0.3 million, and the natural growth rate was -0.5%. According to the seventh National Census in 2020, as of 0:00 on November 1, 2020, the city's permanent population was 6,251,929. Among them, male population accounted for 50.23%; The female population is 49.77%. The sex ratio of the total population (100 females) was 100.91. The population aged 0–14 accounted for 23.17%; The population aged 15–59 accounted for 59.15%; 17.68% of the population was 60 years of age or older, of which 13.04% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100,000 population, 11,743 people had a university degree (college or above); The population with high school (including technical secondary school) education was 20163; 37,885 people with secondary education; The population with a primary education level is 20,994 (the above levels of education include graduates, associates and students of all types of schools). Surnames from Xinxiang are: Major (including Gong, Hong, Gong, Duan) Zuo, Ning, Yan, etc.

Economy

Frestech, a major

home appliance A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation. The domestic application attached to ...

company, was located in Xinxiang prior to its liquidation in 2018. One of the business units spun off in Frestech's dissolution, Xinfei Electric Group, continues to operate in Xinxiang. Xinfei Electric Group, now a wholly-owned subsidy of Aviation Industry Corporation of China, produces refrigerated trucks, military vehicles, RVs, modular building structures, precision equipment, refrigerators, air conditioners, and environmental control equipment. Other important enterprises located in Xinxiang include Golden Dragon Copper Group, Bailu Chemical Fibre, Henan Kelong Group, and AVIC XINHANG Industry Corporation.

Agriculture and textiles

Textiles and processed food are also major products of Xinxiang. As an old textiles base, the cotton industry is very developed in Xinxiang.

Transport

Xinxiang serves as a rail junction and industrial center at the head of navigation on the

Wei River The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. In ancient times, such as in the Records ...

. The Wei River, made navigable for small vessels by river improvements in the 1950s, links the city with

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

Railways

Xinxiang is located at the junction of the Beijing-Guangzhou, Xinxiang-Yueshan, Xinxiang-Yanzhou, and Zhengzhou–Jinan Railways. The Xinxiang metro area has two major railway stations: Xinxiang Railway Station in Weibin and Xinxiang East Railway Station in

Expressways

G4 Beijing–Hong Kong and Macau Expressway * China Expwy G3511 sign no name

G3511 Heze–Baoji Expressway * China Expwy G5512 sign no name

G5512 Jincheng–Xinxiang Expressway

National highways

* China National Highway 107

Education and research

Xinxiang is a major city for research appearing among the top 200 cities in the world by scientific research outputs as of 2023, as tracked by the

Nature Index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries/territories and their scientific output since its introduction in November 2014. Originally released with 64 natural-science journals, the Nature Index expanded to 82 natural-sci ...

. There are several universities and colleges located in the

. * Henan Normal University *: newly combined university located in the eastern part of Xinxiang, it has 21 faculties and 3 centers * Henan Institute of Science and Technology * Xinxiang Medical University * Henan Mechanical and Electrical Engineering College * Xinxiang Hygiene School

Sister cities

* Itajaí, Santa Catarina, Brazil * Kashiwara,

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan

References

Sources and external links

Government website of Xinxiang

Window on Xinxiang

Xinxiang University
{{authority control Populated places established in the 6th century Cities in Henan Contaminated farmland Prefecture-level divisions of Henan National forest cities in China National Civilized City