Wuhan City, a historical and cultural city and an important birthplace of Chu culture, has been a military and commercial center in southern China since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It became the provincial capital of Hubei province during the Yuan Dynasty and was acclaimed as the "most prosperous place in Chu" and one of the "four gathering places in the world" during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The opening of Hankou and the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty initiated the modernization process of Wuhan, making it an important economic center in modern China. Wuhan was the birthplace of the Xinhai Revolution and has been a political, military, and cultural center in modern history.

Wuhan City, also known as "Han" and nicknamed Jiangcheng, is a significant industrial base, scientific and educational base, and comprehensive transportation hub in China. As the economic geographical center of China, Wuhan is renowned as the "thoroughfare of nine provinces" and is the largest inland water, land, and air transportation hub as well as the shipping center in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Its high-speed rail network radiates across half of China and it is the only city in Central China that has direct flights to all five continents in the world.