With a total area of 26,509 square kilometers and a population of more than 10 million, Nanyang is the largest and most populous city in Henan, and currently has jurisdiction over 10 counties and two districts.

Located in the transitional region between subtropical and warm temperate zones, it features a semi-humid continental climate with abundant sunshine and rainfall. As the headstream of the middle line of the south-to-north water diversion project, Nanyang's water reserves and water per capita both rank top in Henan.

The city is a major locality of grain, cotton, oil and tobacco in China. Local agricultural products such as shiitake mushroom and kiwi from Xixia county as well as pawpaw and Chinese chestnut from Tongbai county all enjoy great reputations both at home and abroad.

The city was named a National Demonstration City for Quality of Export Agricultural Products by General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on Sept 9, 2016.

Dubbed as "a natural storehouse of medicine", Nanyang is richly endowed with traditional Chinese medicine resources, including cornel, flos magnolia, eucommia ulmoides, platycodon, root of red-rooted salvia, pinellia ternate, scorpion and amber.

Meanwhile, the city is abundant in mineral resources with 84 varieties of them already found in 468 mining areas. The reserve of urao and andalusite in Nanyang rank top in Asia, while that of kyanite and rutile rank first in the country.

Nanyang is also a well-connected city with a comprehensive transportation network. In addition to numerous highways and rails, Nanyang Airport is one of the three biggest civil airports in Henan, with direct flights to Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guilin, Dalian and Kunming.

In 2016, Nanyang recorded a total output value of 273.8 billion yuan ($41.3 billion), an increase of 8.5 percent year-on-year. The value added of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries rose by 4.4, 8.5, and 10.2 percent to reach 41.3, 122.8 and 109.7 billion yuan respectively.