Nantong, referred to as "Tongzhou" in ancient times, also known as Jinghai and Chongzhou, is a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province, a city in the central area of the Yangtze River Delta, and an economic center and modern port city in the northern wing of the Yangtze River Delta approved by the State Council. By December 2020, Nantong has jurisdiction over 3 municipal districts, 1 county and 3 county-level cities, with a total area of 8001 square kilometers. In 2021, Nantong will achieve a GDP of 1102.69 billion yuan, an increase of 8.9% over the previous year, with a permanent resident population of 7.733 million at the end of the year.

Nantong is located in the east of China and the southeast of Jiangsu Province, bordering the Yellow Sea in the east and the Yangtze River in the south. It is an important part of the Yangtze River city cluster, the north wing gateway of the Shanghai metropolitan area, and one of the first 14 coastal cities in China to open to the outside world. It combines the advantages of "the golden coast" and "the golden waterway", and has 226 kilometers of the Yangtze River coastline. It is known as "North Shanghai", "according to the meeting of the river and the sea and the throat of the north and the south".

Nantong is a famous historical and cultural city in China. It has a history of more than 1000 years since it was built in the third year of Xiande in the later Zhou Dynasty (956). In the history of modern Chinese culture, science and education, Nantong has established the first normal school, the first museum, the first textile school, the first embroidery school, the first drama school, the first blind and dumb school run by the Chinese people, and the first meteorological station, which are known as the "first city in modern China".

Nantong is the birthplace of the "Nantong Phenomenon of Spiritual Civilization", and is one of the regions with the most advanced models of major spiritual civilization in China and Jiangsu Province. It has been rated as a national civilized city for five consecutive times, and has been selected as the national smart city pilot and broadband China demonstration city.

In May 2014, Nantong was awarded the world's first "World Longevity Capital" by the International Association of Natural Medicine and the World Longevity Township Certification Committee. In October 2018, it was rated as the first annual symbol city of healthy China, and ranked 22nd in the 2018 Top 100 Cities in China.