Yongzhou, known as "Xiaoxiang", has jurisdiction over a prefecture-level city in Hunan Province and is a national historical and cultural city approved by The State Council. It is located in the southern part of Hunan, where Xiao and Xiang rivers meet. It has jurisdiction over 2 districts and 8 counties, and administers 1 county-level city. According to the seventh census data, the permanent population of Yongzhou City was 5,289,824 at midnight on November 1, 2020.

Yongzhou is one of the first "National Anti-drug Demonstration Cities" list cities and national forest cities. Yongzhou through the XiangJiang River to the north can reach the Yangtze River, south through Lingqu can connect the Pearl River system, since ancient times is an important traffic fortress, Hunan to Guangxi, Hainan, the west of Guangdong and southwest of the gateway.

Since the establishment of the Marquis of Quanling in 124 BC, Yongzhou has a history of more than 2,100 years. In addition, Yongzhou is also the hometown of Huai Su, Huang Gai, Zhou Dunyi, Li Da, Tao Zhu and other historical celebrities. On January 29, 2021, it was selected into the list of regions with remarkable achievements in 2020 published by Hunan Provincial People's Government.

In 2021, the GDP of Yongzhou reached 226.108 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 7.5%.