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Nestled in the southwestern corner of Shandong province, Heze — historically known as Caozhou — stands as a vibrant crossroads between four provinces: Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, and Anhui. Established as a prefecture-level city in June 2000, Heze today governs two districts, seven counties, and one provincial-level new area, with a registered population of 10.16 million and a land area of 12,200 square kilometers.
Heze carries the titles of "China's Peony Capital", "Hometown of Chinese Opera", "Hometown of Calligraphy and Painting", "Hometown of Martial Arts", and "Hometown of Folk Art", alongside national honors including National Civilized City, China Excellent Tourism City, National Garden City, and National E-commerce Demonstration City.
A robust and growing economy
In 2025, Heze achieved a regional GDP of 493.74 billion yuan ($73.23 billion) and general public budget revenue of 33.34 billion yuan, meeting the major targets set forth in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).
Cradle of civilization
Heze boasts extraordinary cultural depth. Once a political, economic, and cultural center of the Central Plains, it has long been celebrated as the "Center Under Heaven". The city is a living tapestry where ancestral root culture, Yellow River culture, Water Margin culture, and peony culture intertwine.
It was home to a constellation of historical figures, including Yi Yin — the first famous prime minister in known Chinese history, Sun Bin — a Chinese general, military strategist, and writer who lived during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), Fan Li — a Chinese businessman, military strategist, and politician from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), and Cao Zhi — the son of Cao Cao, a warlord of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220).
The landscape preserves over 100 historical sites, from the tomb of Emperor Yao to the altar where Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), ascended to imperial power. With 32 items listed as national intangible cultural heritages — ranking among the top prefecture-level cities in the nation — Heze offers an immersive journey into China's ancient past.
Abundant resources and signature products
Heze's peonies are legendary worldwide, prized for their grand size, elegant form, vivid color, and intoxicating fragrance. The city cultivates 1,308 varieties across nine color systems and 10 flower types, with more than 10 dedicated gardens. Beyond ornamental beauty, Heze has developed over 260 deep-processing products, including peony seed oil and cosmetics, making it the world's largest base for peony breeding, processing, and export.
The city has an impressive portfolio of national geographical indication products: Heze Chinese herbaceous peony, Caoxian county asparagus, Shanxian county mutton soup, Dongming watermelon, Chengwu garlic, Juancheng Lu brocade, and Chenji Chinese yam.
Beneath the surface, Heze holds substantial mineral wealth: proven coal reserves of 4.78 billion metric tons, petroleum geological reserves of 65 million tons, natural gas reserves of 28.5 billion cubic meters, and rock salt reserves of 2.04 billion tons. Geothermal resources are also widely distributed across the region.
Strategic location and modern connectivity
Heze occupies a highly strategic location within Shandong. As the province's only city bordering three other provinces, it serves as Shandong's natural gateway to central and western China. The city is a converging point for the Beijing-Kowloon and Xinxiang-Yanzhou-Shijiusuo railways, with six national highways, 11 provincial highways, and seven expressways threading through its territory.
Air and rail connectivity has witnessed transformation in recent years. Heze Mudan Airport operates 14 routes to 21 cities. The Rizhao-Lanzhou High-speed Railway is now fully operational, while major projects such as the Xiong'an-Shangqiu High-speed Railway (Heze section) are accelerating. Three river ports connect directly to the Grand Canal, positioning Heze as an emerging national multimodal transport hub integrating water, land, and air networks.
Industry clusters and future-forward growth
Heze is home to several large industrial clusters. The biomedical sector follows a "one port, four parks" model, anchored by the Modern Medicine Port and supported by four specialized industrial parks. Leading enterprises such as Shandong Buchang, Ruiying Pharmaceutical, and Fosun Pharma drive robust growth.
The chemical industry is integrated into the provincial development framework, with the 15-million-ton refining and chemical integration project ranked first among Shandong's key petrochemical initiatives by the National Development and Reform Commission. Dongming Petrochemical, ranked 52nd among China's top 500 private enterprises, anchors this sector.
Building on the rapid growth of the "new three" industries — new energy vehicles, lithium batteries and solar products — Heze is also expanding its renewable energy sector, with investments in energy storage, wind power and solar power generation. Renewable energy now accounts for 64 percent of the city's installed power generation capacity.
