Located at the junction of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture comprises seven counties, one county-level city, and 115 townships and sub-districts, with a land area of 15,500 square kilometers. As of 2025, the prefecture has a permanent resident population of 2.36 million, the majority of whom are from the Tujia and Miao ethnic groups. Its gross domestic product exceeded 88.95 billion yuan ($12.94 billion) in 2025.

Xiangxi is a pioneer in targeted poverty alleviation. Prioritizing poverty alleviation to steer overall economic and social development, the prefecture carried out a large-scale poverty-relief campaign. All eight county-level jurisdictions lifted themselves out of poverty, all 1,110 poor villages were removed from the poverty list, and 656,000 residents escaped poverty. Taking Shibadong village as a model, Xiangxi has explored a replicable and promotable path for targeted poverty alleviation, forming the "Xiangxi Model" for targeted poverty reduction.

Xiangxi features sound ecological conditions. Its forest coverage rate remains above 60.4 percent. Designated a national key ecological function zone and a national forest city, it serves as an important ecological barrier for the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It ranks among China's regions with superior ecological performance. It is home to the world's largest selenium-rich kiwifruit planting base, and China's major production bases for ponkan oranges and lily bulbs. It holds the title of Hometown of China's Golden Tea and hosts national high-quality tobacco production bases. Xiangxi achieves top-ranked air and water quality within Hunan province, offering favorable conditions for the green food, tourism and wellness sectors.

Xiangxi boasts abundant cultural and tourism resources. It has one World Cultural Heritage site, one UNESCO Global Geopark, one national-level historical and cultural city, four national-level historical and cultural towns, alongside 1,517 historical and cultural relics, 172 traditional villages, 28 national-level intangible cultural heritage items, and 321 nationally recognized eco-cultural tourism brands. Regarded as a national example for integrated cultural and tourism development, Xiangxi sees sustained tourism growth and is counted among China's top-ten tourist hot-spot regions. As an important component of Hunan's "Splendid Xiaoxiang" tourism brand, the "Mysterious Xiangxi" brand has contributed to Hunan's listing among the world's top-ten tourist destinations.

Xiangxi develops distinctive local industries. It has built an industrial system based on characteristic modern agriculture, led by eco-cultural tourism, supported by modern manufacturing and labor-intensive processing industries, and driven by emerging sectors including electronic information and new materials. Two national-level modern agricultural industrial parks and nine provincial-level industrial parks operate across the prefecture.

Xiangxi advances opening-up and innovation. A comprehensive multi-layered transport network is in place. The Zhangjiajie-Jishou-Huaihua High-speed Railway and Xiangxi Airport are scheduled to go into operation. Among China's 30 ethnic autonomous prefectures, Xiangxi is the only one with both a World Cultural Heritage site and a UNESCO Global Geopark. It is also the sole prefecture designated as both a national-level industrial transfer demonstration zone and a national forest city. It is one of China's seven national cultural-ecological protection zones and one of ten demonstration prefectures for the clustered conservation and utilization of traditional villages.