Mianyang

Mianyang, city in north-central Sichuan sheng (province), China. It is located on the Fu River, about 70 miles (110 km) northeast of Chengdu, at a point where the ancient route to Baoji and to Chang’an (now Xi’an) in Shaanxi province emerges into the northeastern Chengdu Plain in Sichuan. This route is now followed by a railway line and highways connecting Mianyang with Chengdu, Nanchong, and Chongqing, to the south.

The surrounding area, for which Mianyang acts as the central market, is fertile, densely populated, and known for its silk production. Mianyang benefited significantly from the opening of a railway between Chengdu and Baoji in 1958, which spurred the construction of many factories (including a steelworks using the coal from nearby Guangyuan and plants producing military matériel). When China turned toward a market economy in the 1980s, many of Minyang’s military industries also began making products for civilian use. The city’s industrial products include electronics and electronic equipment (notably television receivers), machinery, building materials, chemicals, and textiles. Mianyang is an important science and technology centre in the province, and it has several universities and colleges and many research institutions. The city was severely damaged by a powerful earthquake in Sichuan in 2008, which killed thousands of people and left tens of thousands homeless. Pop. (2002 est.) city, 466,777; (2005 est.) urban agglom., 1,322,000.