Zhanjiang, formerly known as "Guangzhou Bay" and also known as "Port City", is a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province, an important port city in the southeast coast approved by the State Council, and one of the central cities in western Guangdong and Beibu Gulf. A modern emerging port industrial city with tropical scenery. Zhanjiang is located in the south of Chinese Mainland and southwest of Guangdong, with a tropical monsoon climate. Zhanjiang City covers a total area of 13263 square kilometers, with 4 municipal districts, 2 counties and 3 county-level cities. By the end of 2021, Zhanjiang has a permanent resident population of 7.0309 million. Among the three major dialects in Zhanjiang, the number of people who speak Leizhou dialect is the largest, followed by Cantonese and Hakka.

Zhanjiang was named because it was once a county of Suochuan in history, and there was a Suochuan inspection department in the territory. In September 1983, the system of merging prefecture-level cities and prefecture-level counties was implemented. Zhanjiang is a prefecture-level city directly under the provincial government. Zhanjiang, located at the junction of Guangdong, Hainan and Guangxi, is the main sea port of southwest provinces of China, and also an important port with the shortest sea route from Chinese Mainland to Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe and Oceania. The representative culture of Zhanjiang is Leizhou culture and Gaoliang culture. Xuwen Ancient Port in Zhanjiang was the earliest port of departure of the Maritime Silk Road in the Han Dynasty.

Zhanjiang is the provincial sub-central city and the headquarters of the South China Sea Fleet. The first batch of "the Belt and Road" maritime cooperation fulcrum cities, marine economy demonstration areas, national comprehensive transportation hubs, national top 100 cities with comprehensive strength, national health cities, national garden cities, China's excellent tourism cities, national model cities for mutual support, charming cities with Chinese characteristics, health cities in Guangdong Province, and civilized cities in Guangdong Province.

In 2021, Zhanjiang will achieve a gross regional product of 355.993 billion yuan, up 8.5% year on year.