Panzhihua

The construction of Panzhihua occurred during China's Third Front construction, a Mao Zedong-era campaign to develop basic and national defense industry in China's rugged interior in the event of foreign invasion. Mao viewed the building of the city as so important that he repeatedly told other party leadership that until it was built he would "not sleep well a single day." Speaking figuratively, he routinely emphasized the importance of developing Panzhihua by stating that if party leaders would not develop the city, he would "ride a donkey and hold a meeting" to build it himself. Southwest Third Front Commission Vice Director Cheng Zihua was among the first to investigate the Panzhihua site, traveling there in mid-1964 when only eight households lived in Panzhihua. …

The area has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), with short, mild, dry winters and long, hot, and humid summers. Highs drop to 21 °C (70 °F) in December and January, quickly rebounding during the dry springs, and peak in May and June, unlike much of the rest of the province. Much of the annual rainfall occurs from June to September. Panzhihua is one of unique places in the world without any seasonal lag. Extremes since 1961 have ranged from 0.4 °C (32.7 °F) on 25 December 1999 to 44.0 °C (111.2 °F) on 31 May 2023. Panzhihua lies in the Yangtze River basin, holding more than 95 waterways. They feed the Jinsha and Yandalong Rivers, which in turn feed the Yangtze. Annual runoff volume is 110.2 billion cubic meters. The potential hydropower capacity is 700 million kilowatts. The installed capacity is 3.474 million kilowatts. …

Panzhihua is a highly industrialized area dominated by gigantic mining operations. Most of the land not in use for mining is taken up by subsistence farming. Panzhihua has abundant natural resources, but remained undeveloped until 1960. It was founded on a remote headwater of the Yangtze River in 1966 as a steel production center. It grew rapidly as it remained relatively prosperous while the rest of the country suffered under the Cultural Revolution. The city is home to the Panzhihua Iron and Steel (Group) Co, called "Pangang 攀钢", the leading steel company in southwest China. Proven iron ore (mainly vanadium-titanium magnetite) reserves are 73.8 million tons, 72.3% of the provincial total. At the end of 2007, the city's reserves of vanadium-titanium magnetite were 6. …