Guilin, referred to as GUI, Jingjiang and Shi 'an in ancient times, is a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a type II big city, and a provincial sub-central city. It is a world-famous scenic city, a holy land of wisdom, an important national high-tech industrial base, and an old industrial base in China. It is approved by The State Council as one of China's international tourism cities open to the outside world, national tourism innovation and development pilot zone and international tourism comprehensive transportation hub. By 2019, the city has jurisdiction over 6 districts and 10 counties and 1 county-level city in charge, with a total area of 27,800 square kilometers and a built-up area of 162 square kilometers.

According to the seventh census data, as of midnight on November 1, 2020, the permanent population of Guilin was 4,931,100.
Located at the southern end of the Hunan-Guangxi Corridor in South China, Guilin is the headquarters of the Central Military Commission Guilin Joint Logistics Support Center, the innovation demonstration zone of the National Sustainable Development Agenda, the weather vane of China's tourism industry, the permanent venue of the International Forum on Tourism Trends and Prospects of the United Nations World Tourism Organization/Asia Pacific Tourism Association, and an important node city in the strategic intersection of the Pan-Pearl River Delta Economic Zone and the ASEAN Free Trade Area. National Health City, national civilized city, the second batch of sponge city construction demonstration city, is an international tourist resort based on new industries.

Guilin is one of the first national historical and cultural cities. It belongs to Guilin County after Qin Shihuang unified Lingnan. In 1201, the famous poet Wang Zhenggong wrote a poem titled "Guilin Landscape is the best in the world". Retsteamer Piyan culture is one of the cultural sources of prehistoric China in the process of multiple integration. Retsteamer Piyan pottery found to fill the blank of the origin of pottery in the world, is one of the important sources of pottery technology in China. Guilin is an important gathering area of universities in Guangxi, with 16 universities including Guangxi Normal University, Guilin University of Electronic Science and Technology, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin Medical College and Army Special Operations College.
In 2021, Guilin achieved a gross regional product of 231.06 billion yuan.