Wuhu, city and river port, southeastern Anhui sheng (province), eastern China. Wuhu has long been a communication and strategic centre of some importance, being situated at the junction of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) with the Qingyi River to the south. The city is situated on the southeastern bank of the Yangtze, about 80 miles (130 km) upstream from Nanjing in Jiangsu province. Eastward from Wuhu the Yangtze delta consists predominantly of flatland, lakes, and canals.
Wuhu is located in an area of relatively ancient settlement, which in the 6th century bce was the site of the city of Jiuzi in the state of Wu. A county named Wuhu was founded in the 2nd century bce under the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce) at a site some 9 miles (15 km) southwest of the contemporary town. In the 3rd century ce, as water transportation became more important and the area’s economy continued to develop, the county seat of Wuhu was moved to Jimao Hill on the northern bank of the Qingyi River, some 3 miles (5 km) southeast of the present city site. From the 5th century onward, however, it lost its county status and was merged with neighbouring districts. The area again began to develop in the 8th and 9th centuries. In the mid-10th century the county of Wuhu was reestablished on its former Jimao Hill site and gradually spread out westward along the Qingyi River to its confluence with the Yangtze. From that time onward, the surrounding area grew rapidly in importance, and its population increased.
Under the Ming dynasty, from the 15th century onward, it developed into a major commercial centre and river port and was well known as a centre of the rice trade. In 1876, as a result of the Chefoo (Yantai) Convention between China and the United Kingdom, it was opened to foreign trade, and a modern town began to develop along the Yangtze. Before World War II it ranked third in volume of domestic trade after Shanghai and Nanjing. Its foreign trade, however, was less than one-tenth of China’s total; almost all of it was with Japan, to which it exported rice, tea, beans, oilseed, and iron ore. After its occupation by the Japanese military in 1938, great quantities of its iron ore were shipped to the Yawata Iron and Steel Company, at Yawata (now part of Kitakyūshū), Japan.
Traditionally, water transportation was the major element stimulating development in the Wuhu region. In the 1930s Wuhu’s inland communications were improved, first by building a highway network in the Nanjing area and then by constructing one rail link running southwest from Nanjing to Tongling via the city and another joining Yuxikou (opposite Wuhu on the Yangtze) with the Huainan coalfield in northwestern Anhui. Before World War II, however, there was virtually no industry in the city, apart from the Youchong cotton mill and several rice-polishing and oil-extracting plants. Since 1949, Wuhu has become a diversified industrial city producing textiles, machinery, metallurgical products, electronics, processed foods, and various other commodities.
Yuxikou, now a part of Wuhu, has long been one of China’s largest inland coal-shipping river ports. A new port, designated for foreign trade, was constructed north of the city to handle container shipping. The rail line from Wuhu to Nanjing has been double-tracked, and the rail line passing southwestward through the city was extended into Jiangxi province in the 1980s; a branch line stretches southeastward from this one—via Xuanzhou—to Hangzhou in Zhejiang province. In 2000 a combined rail-and-highway bridge across the Yangtze was completed at Wuhu, greatly facilitating traffic between the river’s two banks and strengthening the city’s position as a water and land transshipment centre. Expressways stretch out in all directions to connect the city with Nanjing, Hefei (the provincial capital), Tongling, and Xuanzhou.
The iron picture, also known as iron openwork, is a renowned handicraft product of Wuhu that involves using casting and other metalworking techniques to re-create in iron Chinese paintings. Anhui Normal University (founded 1928) is the best-known of the institutions of higher learning in the city. Pop. (2002 est.) city, 567,015; (2007 est.) urban agglom., 810,000.