Mianyang, Sichuan Province, China

🇨🇳 Mianyang (绵阳); formerly as Mienchow; is the second largest prefecture-level city of Sichuan province in Southwest China. Located in north-central Sichuan covering an area of 20,281 square km (7,831 sq mi) consisting of Jiangyou, a county-level city, five counties and three urban districts. Its built-up (or metro) area is made of three urban districts. In 2006, Mianyang was ranked as China's third "most suitable city for living" by China Daily, after coastal cities Dalian and Xiamen., but it has since dropped out of the top 10.

Economy Mianyang is one of China's major centres for the electronics industry. It has many well-known research institutions, such as the China Academy of Engineering Physics and China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center. Many large-scale enterprises, such as Changhong Electronics Group Corporation, Sichuan DND Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Jiuzhou Electronics Group, Shuangma Cement Group, and Changcheng Special Steel Company also have their home in Mianyang.

Mianyang is an important national defence, scientific research and production base, consisting of 18 institutes including the China Academy of Engineering Physics and the China Aerodynamics Research Institute. Moreover, it houses 50 large- and medium-size enterprises and six science colleges.

The provincial government will hand over greater administrative powers of economic management at the provincial-level authority to propel the development of Mianyang. The new economy management authority will pay close attention to the construction of the scientific city. The provincial committee party and government are presently drafting the "Opinions on Propelling China Scientific City Construction" report which is expected to come out soon.

Mianyang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone Mianyang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was established in 1992, with a planned area of 43 km2 (17 sq mi). The zone is situated 96 km away from Chengdu and is 8 km (5.0 mi) away from Mianyang Airport. Since its establishment, the zone accumulated 177.4 billion yuan of industrial output, 46.2 billion yuan of gross domestic product, and fiscal revenue of 6.768 billion yuan. There are more than 136 high-tech enterprises in the zone and they accounted for more than 90% of the total industrial output.

The zone is a leader in the electronic information industry, biological medicine, new materials, and the production of motor vehicles and parts.

Education There are six universities and colleges in the city, and it is well known as a science and technology centre.

The best known of these is Southwest University of Science and Technology, with a campus of 4000 mu (about 260 hectares (640 acres)). There is a wide-band multimedia campus network, which is connected to the Internet. The student dorm has access to telephone, Internet and TV. There are over 900,000 copies of books and over 10,000 electronic books in the library. The studying and living facilities are all on the campus.

Others: • Tianfu College, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics • Mianyang Normal University.