Baiyin is located in central Gansu province on the upper reaches of the Yellow River. Baiyin means silver in Mandarin Chinese, and the city was created and named following the development of the local mining industry.

It has a population of 1.71 million, including 700,000 people who live in its urban areas. In 2011, Baiyin’s GDP reached 37.58 billion yuan ($6.17 billion).

China's non-ferrous metals industry is said to have originated in Baiyin, and its copper industry has ranked first in the country for 18 consecutive years in terms of production, output value, profits and taxes.