Pingguo county in Baise, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region is promoted to being a county-level city on May 18. [Photo provided by Zhang Xiaoxiao to chinadaily.com.cn]

On the morning of May 18, a plaque unveiling ceremony to signify Pingguo's promotion from being a county to its establishment as a city was held in the city administrative center, officially marking that Pingguo has opened a new era and embarked on a new journey.

Pingguo county was approved to be upgraded from a county to a city by the State Council on Dec 26, 2019. The county-level city Pingguo will be under the direct jurisdiction of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and is managed by the city of Baise, with its administrative area remaining unchanged.

Pingguo is located in southwest Guangxi and spans a total area of 2,485 square kilometers. It has jurisdiction over 183 administrative villages (communities) in nine towns, with a total population of 580,000.

The beautiful scenery of Pingguo in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

It has a unique location with railways, highways, and shipping extending in all directions. It is only one a hour drive to Nanning Wuxu International Airport and Baise Airport. Pingguo is known for its rich mineral resources, especially bauxite, with reserves of 290 million tons, accounting for 17 percent of the country's total.

In 2019, the total GDP of Pingguo reached 17.88 billion yuan ($2.51 billion), an increase of 11.3 percent year-on-year, and the total industrial output value above designated size was 25.45 billion yuan, an increase of 18.1 percent year-on-year.

In 2019, the county expanded the urban area to 28.5 sq km, with a population of 280,000 and an urbanization rate of 48 percent. A set of well-known characteristic agriculture brands was built and two autonomous region-level agriculture demonstration areas were created last year.

In addition, Pingguo has invested 410 million yuan to build Pingguo Sports Center. Spanning 1,000 mu (66.67 hectares), it includes stadiums, tennis centers, basketball courts, and other venues, hosting more than 500 high-quality events.