Jiangsu (江苏), abbreviated as “Su” (苏), is named after the Chinese initial characters of Jiangning (江宁) and Suzhou (苏州). Located in the central coastal region of China, Jiangsu lies in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River. It borders the Yellow Sea to the east, Shandong Province to the north, Anhui Province to the west, and Shanghai and Zhejiang Province to the southeast. The Yangtze River traverses the province from east to west, while the Grand Canal runs from its north to south. Jiangsu features a landscape of mountains, plains, rivers, and lakes, with a mild climate, fertile soil, and abundant resources, earning it the reputation of “the land of fish and rice”.
Archaeological findings, such as the Homo erectus fossils discovered in Tangshan, Nanjing, in 1993, indicate human activity here as early as 350,000 years ago. Around 6,000 to 7,000 years ago, the region entered a flourishing stage of the Neolithic Age. The 6,000-year-old rice fields of the Majiabang Culture found at the Caoxie Mountain Site represent the earliest known ancient rice fields with irrigation systems in China. The carbonized textile fragments discovered in the cultural layers of this site are the oldest known textile artifacts in China.
During the late Shang Dynasty, Taibo and Zhongyong, brothers of the royal family, migrated to southern Jiangsu and established the State of Wu. In the Spring and Autumn period, the Wu State’s bronze smelting and forging techniques gained profound fame. During the late Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang led a rebellion against the Qin. After Liu Bang unified China and founded the Han Dynasty, his nephew Liu Bi was enfeoffed as the King of Wu, with his capital in Guangling (present-day Yangzhou). The Eastern Wu, Eastern Jin, and the Southern Dynasties of Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen successively established their capitals in Nanjing, making Jiangsu the political, economic, and cultural hub of southern China.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the excavation of the Grand Canal led to the prosperity of many cities and towns in Jiangsu. Yangzhou became a critical hub for transport, economy, and culture, earning the title “Yang Yi Yi Er” (扬一益二), meaning Yangzhou ranks first and Yizhou (ancient Chengdu) second. After the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, the economic center of China shifted southward, leading to a strategic dependence where critical military and state policies relied entirely on the Jiang-Huai region (the Yangtze-Huaihe basin). During the Song dynasties, Jiangsu became a major grain-producing region. In the Yuan Dynasty, the Taihu Lake area became the national center for cotton cultivation and textile production. In the early Ming Dynasty, Ying Tianfu (formerly Nanjing) was designated as the capital, reestablishing its role as the national political and cultural center. During the Qing Dynasty, Suzhou City, Nanjing City, and Hangzhou City in Zhejiang Province were renowned as the three major silk textile centers. Jiangsu’s grain and salt production ranked first nationwide, with Yangzhou serving as the hub for Huai salt distribution and Wuxi as one of China’s four major rice markets.
In modern times, Jiangsu witnessed the development of Western-style enterprises such as the Nantong Yangpao Bureau and the Jinling Machinery Manufacturing Bureau. The province gave rise to national industrial groups like the Nantong Dasheng Group, the Wuxi-based Rong family enterprises, and industrial tycoons such as Zhang Jian and the Rong brothers. In 1912, Dr. Sun Yat-sen was inaugurated as the provisional president of the Republic of China in Nanjing. In 1927, the Nationalist Government established its capital in Nanjing. During the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, the people of Jiangsu made significant contributions to national independence and the people’s liberation. On April 23, 1949, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army captured Nanjing, marking a decisive victory in the Chinese revolution.
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Jiangsu has achieved remarkable progress in economic and social development, establishing a relatively complete industrial system and national economic framework. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Jiangsu experienced development stages of township enterprise growth, rapid development of an export-oriented economy, and the adoption of innovation-driven strategies. By the end of the 20th century, Jiangsu Province had basically entered a moderately prosperous society, with parts of southern Jiangsu as pacesetters in achieving basic modernization.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, President Xi Jinping has visited Jiangsu four times for inspections and participated three times in the deliberations of the Jiangsu delegation at the national Two Sessions. He outlined the grand blueprint of a “prosperous, beautiful and culturally advanced” new Jiangsu. Bearing in mind his instructions, Jiangsu Province has forged ahead in gratitude, striving to write a new chapter in building a new Jiangsu that is prosperous, beautiful, and culturally advanced.
In 2024, the province’s GDP reached RMB 13.7 trillion, growing by 5.8% year-on-year. The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents reached RMB 66,000 and RMB 32,000, respectively, with the urban-rural income ratio narrowing to 2.04:1. Significant progress has been made in ecological civilization and environmental protection, making “Beautiful Jiangsu” tangible, perceptible, and enjoyable. Jiangsu’s social civility index has remained above 90 points (indicating advanced levels in public governance, citizen ethics, and sustainable development).
Jiangsu is known for its rich cultural tapestry woven through history by splendid Chu and Han cultures, Wu culture, Jinling culture and Huaiyang culture. Many a luminary from Jiangsu holds significant places in the history of Chinese culture: Yan Yan, Confucius’s sole disciple from the south, crowned as the “grand master of cultural enlightenment in Jiangnan (regions south of the Yangtze River)”; Mei Cheng, the creator of Han Fu (a genre of rhythmic prose prevailing in the Han Dynasty); Gu Kaizhi, the “greatest painter” of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 317-420); and Zhang Xu, the “saint of cursive-script calligraphy” of the Tang Dynasty. Jiangsu is also home to a myriad of cultural works and historical heritage items well known both domestically and internationally: the “Three Greats”—Han tombs, Han terracotta warriors, and Han portrait stone carvings; three of the Four Great Classics of Chinese literature—Outlaws of the Marsh, Journey to the West and A Dream of Red Mansions; the most representative folk music “Jiangnan string and pipe ensemble”; the Kunqu opera, revered as “mother of Chinese operas”; Suzhou Xiangshan faction of traditional architectural techniques; Nanjing Yunjin brocade, Yangzhou lacquerware, and Yixing purple clay pottery.
By the end of 2024, Jiangsu possessed more than 20,000 immovable cultural relics, and over 1.07 million pieces (sets) of registered movable cultural relics collected by museums. It housed three world cultural heritage sites, one world natural heritage site, 251 national key protection units of cultural relics, 14 national historical and cultural cities, 31 Chinese historical and cultural towns, and 12 Chinese historical and cultural villages. It owned 331 museums on record and 98 national-level museums. In addition, Jiangsu had 12 items included in the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), 162 items of Chinese national ICH, 178 inheritors of the national ICH, and 12 provincial experimental zones for cultural ecosystem protection.
