Yibin, city, southeastern Sichuan sheng (province), China. It is situated at the southwestern corner of the Sichuan Basin at the junction of the Min and the Yangtze rivers; above Yibin the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) is called the Jinsha River.
Surrounded on three sides by two rivers and with the Daliang Mountains at its back, Yibin is both beautiful and important as a strategic point. It is a major port on the Yangtze and a well-known city in Chinese history and culture. Junk traffic can reach Leshan, to the north on the Min, and Pingshan, to the south on the Jinsha, and there is heavy river traffic with Chongqing downstream. It has traditionally also been a staging post of the main route from Chengdu to Kunming in Yunnan province and a commercial and collecting centre for goods from northern Yunnan and southwestern Sichuan. The city stands in a good defensive position on a high bluff above the river.
A county administration was set up there in the 2nd century bce. With the rapid expansion of Sichuan in Song (960–1279) times, it grew quickly, receiving its modern county name in 1114 and becoming the seat of the prefecture of Xu. In the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911/12) periods, it became Xuzhou superior prefecture, known to Europeans as Suifu. In 1912 it reverted to the status of a county as Yibin. In 1913 steamship communication with Chongqing was opened, and it subsequently grew into a major collection and distribution point dependent on Chongqing. Its commercial development progressed during World War II, when there was an influx of eastern merchants; some industry was also founded.
Since 1949 Yibin’s importance as a communication centre has increased. In 1951 Yibin was established as a city, and in 1996 it was raised to the status of a prefecture-level city. A railway joins it to Neijiang (north) and Kunming (south) in Yunnan province, on the Chongqing-Chengdu railway; the highways of the region have also been improved. Industry has been greatly expanded. The area has been known at least since the 7th century ce as a source of subterranean salt, which now supplies a large chemical plant. There is also a large paper mill. Yibin produces many local speciality commodities, including baijiu (a distilled liquor), one of its best-known products. Pop. (2002 est.) city, 312,462; (2007 est.) urban agglom., 902,000.