Hefei is the capital of Anhui province, China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census. Its built-up (or metro) area is made up of four urban districts plus Feidong, Feixi and Changfeng counties being urbanized, and was home to 7,754,481 inhabitants. Located in the central portion of the province, it borders Huainan to the north, Chuzhou to the northeast, Wuhu to the southeast, Tongling to the south, Anqing to the southwest and Lu'an to the west. A natural hub of communications, Hefei is situated to the north of Chao Lake and stands on a low saddle crossing the northeastern extension of the Dabie Mountains, which forms the divide between the Huai and Yangtze rivers.
The present-day city dates from the Song dynasty. Before World War II, Hefei remained essentially an administrative centre and the regional market for the fertile plain to the south. It has gone through a growth in infrastructure in recent years. Hefei is the location of Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, an experimental superconducting tokamak magnetic fusion energy reactor.
Hefei is a leading world city for scientific research, ranking at 12th globally, 8th in the Asia-Pacific, and 7th in China (behind Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Hangzhou), as tracked by the Nature Index in 2025. The city is represented by several major universities, including the University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei University of Technology, Anhui University, Anhui Agricultural University and Anhui Medical University. Notably, the University of Science and Technology of China is one of the top 100 comprehensive public research universities in the world.
History
thumb|Old Hefei Map with wall
From the 8th to the 6th centuries BC, Hefei was the site of many small states, later a part of the Chu kingdom. Many archaeological finds dating from this period have been made. The name 'Hefei' was first given to the county set up in the area under the Han dynasty in the 2nd century BC.
In the 3rd century AD, the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford was fought at Xiaoyao Ford () in Hefei. Zhang Liao, a general of the Wei state, led 800 picked cavalry to defeat the 200,000-strong army from Wei's rival state Wu. Several decades of warring in Hefei between Wu and Wei followed this battle.
During the 4th to the 6th centuries AD, this crucial border region between northern and southern states was much fought over; its name and administrative status were consequently often changed. During the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) periods, it became the seat of Lu prefecture—a title it kept until the 15th century, when it became a superior prefecture named Luzhou.
The present city dates from the Song dynasty (960–1126), the earlier Hefei having been some distance farther north. In the 10th year of Xining (, 1077 AD), the taxes collected from the Luchow Prefecture were 50315 Guan, approximately 25 million today's Chinese Yuan, with a ranking of the amount of taxes was the 11th(following Kaifeng, Hangzhou, Qinzhou, Chuzhou, Chengdu, Zizhou, Xingyuan, Mianzhou, Zhenzhou, Suzhou) among all the prefectures of Song Dynasty. During the 10th century, it was for a while the capital of the independent Wu kingdom (902–938) and was an important center of the Southern Tang state (937–975).
After 1127 it became a center of the defenses of the Southern Song dynasty (1126–1279) against the Jin (Jurchen) invaders in the Jin–Song wars, as well as a flourishing center of trade between the two states. When the Chinese Republic was founded in 1911, the superior prefecture was abolished, and the city took the name of Hefei. The city was known as Luchow or Liu-tcheou (, <small>p</small> Luzhou) during the Ming and Qing dynasties (after the 14th century to the 19th century). Hefei was the temporary capital for Anhui from 1853 to 1862. It was renamed as Hefei County in 1912. Following the Chinese victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945, Hefei was made the capital of Anhui.
Before World War II, Hefei remained essentially an administrative center and the regional market for the fertile plain to the south. It was a collecting center for grain, beans, cotton, and hemp, as well as a center for handicraft industries manufacturing cloth, leather, bamboo goods, and ironware.
The construction in 1912 of the Tianjin–Pukou railway, farther east, for a while made Hefei a provincial backwater, and much of its importance passed to Bengbu. In 1932–36, however, a Chinese company built a railway linking Hefei with Yuxikou (on the Yangtze opposite Wuhu) to the southeast and with the Huai River at Huainan to the north. While this railway was built primarily to exploit the rich coalfield in northern Anhui, it also did much to revive the economy of the Hefei area by taking much of its produce to Wuhu and Nanjing.
Although Hefei was a quiet market town of only about 30,000 in the mid-1930s, its population grew more than tenfold in the following 20 years. The city's administrative role was strengthened by the transfer of the provincial government from Anqing in 1945, but much of its new growth derived from its development as an industrial city.
Hefei was designated the provincial capital in 1952.
A cotton mill was opened in 1958, and a thermal generating plant, using coal from Huainan, was established in the early 1950s. It also became the seat of an industry producing industrial chemicals and chemical fertilizers. In the late 1950s an iron and steel complex was built. In addition to a machine-tool works and engineering and agricultural machinery factories, the city has developed an aluminum industry and a variety of light industries.
Hefei's development was advanced by the Third Front construction. In 1970, the University of Science and Technology of China relocated to Hefei. the situation is improving due to efforts by both the government and the people.
Climate
Hefei features a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) with four distinct seasons. Hefei's annual average temperature is . Its annual precipitation is just slightly over , being heavier from May through August. Winters are damp and cold, with January lows dipping just below freezing and January averaging . The city sees irregular snowfalls that rarely turn significant. Occasional cold spells from Siberia that usually happen during winter months such as December, January, February. Sometimes November and March which can bring snow and heavier snowfall. (Springs are generally relatively pleasant if somewhat erratic. Summers are hot and humid, with a July average of . In the months of June, July, August, and often September, daily temperatures can reach or surpass with high humidity levels being the norm. Autumn in Hefei sees a gradual cooling and drying. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 35 percent in March to 50 percent in August, the city receives 1,868 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from on 6 January 1955, to on 27 July 2017.
Air pollution
Air quality typically diminishes in May and June when the city is blanketed by smog caused by the smoke generated as farmers outside the city burn their fields in preparation for planting the next crop.
Administrative divisions and demographics
Demographics
The majority of the population in Hefei are Han Chinese. There are a comparatively small number of Hui people living in the city, for whom a few mosques have been constructed. Of the more than five million people in the city, some are migrant workers from other parts of Anhui.
Administration
The prefecture-level city of Hefei administers nine county-level divisions, including four districts, one county-city and four counties.
Hefei subdivisions area (km<sup>2</sup>), population (According to 2010 Census) and population density (per km<sup>2</sup>).
{| class="wikitable" align="center" style="width:70%; font-size:smaller" border="1"
! colspan="13"| Map
|-
| colspan=13 align="center" style="font-size:larger" |
<div style="position: relative" class="center">
</div>
|-
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Division code
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | English
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Chinese
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Pinyin
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Area in km2
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Seat
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Postal code
!! scope="col" colspan=6 | Subdivisions
|-
!! scope="col" width="45" | Subdistricts
!! scope="col" width="45" | Towns
!! scope="col" width="45" | Townships
!! scope="col" width="45" | Ethnic townships
!! scope="col" width="45" | Residential communities
!! scope="col" width="45" | Villages
|-align="center" style="font-weight:bold"
! 340100 !! Hefei
| || || 11434.25 || Shushan District || 230000 || 45 || 65 || 19 || 1 || 736 || 1102
|-align="center"
! 340102 !! Yaohai District
| || || 142.90 || Mingguang Road Subdistrict () || 230000 || 13 || 2 || 1 || || 118 || 18
|-align="center"
! 340103 !! Luyang District
| || || 139.32 || Bozhou Road Subdistrict () || 230000 || 11 || 1 || || || 84 || 14
|-align="center"
! 340104 !! Shushan District
| || || 261.36 || Sanli'an Subdistrict () || 230000 || 8 || 2 || || || 92 || 17
|-align="center"
! 340111 !! Baohe District
| || || 294.94 || Luogang Subdistrict () || 230000 || 7 || 2 || || || 77 || 38
|-align="center"
! 340121 !! Changfeng County
| || || 1928.45 || Shuihu () || 231100 || || 8 || 6 || || 80 || 193
|-align="center"
! 340122 !! Feidong County
| || || 2205.92 || Dianbu () || 231600 || || 10 || 4 || || 95 || 249
|-align="center"
! 340123 !! Feixi County
| || || 2082.66 || Shangpai () || 231200 || || 12 || 6 || 1 || 90 || 241
|-align="center"
! 340124 !! Lujiang County
| || || 2347.48 || Lucheng () || 231500 || || 17 || || || 38 || 194
|-align="center"
! 340181 !! Chaohu
| || || 2031.22 || Woniushan Subdistrict () || 238000 || 6 || 11 || 1 || || 62 || 138
|}
Economy
thumb|Swan Lake CBD area
As of 2021, the GDP of Hefei is CN¥1,141.28 billion. The GDP per capita of the city is ¥121,187 (US$18,784), ranking within the top 20 of cities in China.
As of 2023, the GDP of Hefei is CN¥1,267.38 billion.
Investments and state-owned enterprises
Hefei's city government is highly engaged in business, both through state-owned enterprises and investment.
In 2008, Hefei invested heavily in iFlytek, a voice-recognition technology firm spun off from USTC. NIO moved its headquarters to Hefei, where the government helped it obtain loans from local banks to expand its supply chains.
Hefei was identified by The Economist in December 2012 as the world's No.1 fastest growing metropolitan economy.
Hefei has supported the growth of the chip industry in the city and has become one of the biggest sites for the manufacture of memory chips (DRAM).
Universities and research
thumb|An older (c.2007) view of [[University of Science and Technology of China, including the Teaching Building II and the old library (now an administrative building)]]Hefei is a leading world city for scientific research, ranking at 12th globally, 8th in the Asia-Pacific, and 7th in China (behind Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Hangzhou), as tracked by the Nature Index in 2025. Hefei was one of the four national science centers identified in China's 14th Five-Year Plan.
As of 2017, Hefei had 60 universities and more than 564 research institutes.
Sport
Hefei had its own football team called Anhui Jiufang, who in the 2007–08 season were promoted from the Chinese Football Association Yi League to the Chinese Football Association Jia League which is the second highest tier of Chinese football. It was acquired by Tianjin Runyulong in 2011.
Sites of interest
thumb|Former Residence of Li Hongzhang
thumb|[[Hefei Olympic Sports Center Stadium]]
thumb|Hefei Grand Theatre
- Chao Lake, is the largest lake in Anhui and one of the five major freshwater lakes in China.
- Sanhe Town, ancient town which has a history of more than 2,500 years.
- Xiaoyaojin Park, a public park sitting on the ancient site of the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford.
- Temple of Lord Bao, built in 1066 near the tomb of Lord Bao.
- Li Hongzhang's Former Residence (), built in the late 19th century and fully restored by the 1990s.
- Hui Garden () (Opened to the public in September 2001)
- Children's Welfare Institute (a.k.a. "Social Welfare Institute"), children's orphanage
- Anhui Laomingguang Stadium, the home ground of Anhui Jiufang, but also used for other public sporting events.
- Hefei Olympic Sports Center Stadium, football stadium with a capacity of 60,000 people
- Hefei Grand Theatre, opera house
Notable people
- Bao Zheng (999–1062), Northern Song dynasty bureaucrat and judge whose name has become synonymous with judicial wisdom and uprightness.
- Li Hongzhang (1823–1901), prominent late Qing dynasty bureaucrat and diplomat.
- Liu Mingchuan (1836–1896), statesman during the late Qing dynasty, first governor of Taiwan.
- Duan Qirui (1865–1936), the Provisional Chief Executive of Republic of China (in Beijing) from 24 November 1924, to 20 April 1926.
- Susan Wu Rathbone (1921–2019), community leader in Queens, New York.
- Yang Chen-Ning, (1922–2025), 1957 Nobel Physics Prize laureate, for their work on parity nonconservation of weak interaction. One of the two earliest Chinese to receive the prize.
- Wu Bangguo (b. 1941), Chinese politician.
- Li Keqiang (1955–2023), Premier of China 2013–2023.
- Yang Yuanqing (b. 1964), Chairman of Board of Lenovo.
- Han Qizhi, (b. 1970), first person to climb the Jin Mao Tower, then the tallest building in China.
- Jin Jing (b. 1981), Paralympic fencer.
- Xu Song (b. 1986), Chinese singer.
- Chen Xiao (b. 1987), actor.
- Yang Yang (b. 1991), actor.
- Hu Bingqing (b. 1992), actress.
Sister cities
- Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan (1980)
- Freetown, Sierra Leone (1984)
- Bujumbura, Burundi (1986)
- Columbus, Ohio, United States (1988)
- Aalborg, Denmark (1989)
- Lleida, Catalonia, Spain (1998)
- Wonju, Gwandong, South Korea (2002)
- Darebin, Victoria, Australia (2003)
- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (2004)
- Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom (2005)
- Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany (2006)
- Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia (2016)
See also
- List of twin towns and sister cities in China
- New first-tier city
References
External links
- Hefei Online Government