LiuzhouWade-Giles romanization Liu-chou, formerly Ma-p’ing, Pinyin Liuzhou, or Maping, city in central Kwangsi Chuang autonomous ch’ü (region)Maping city, central Zhuang Autonomous Region of Guangxi, southern China.

Liu-chouLiuzhou, the second largest city in KwangsiGuangxi, is a natural communication centre, being situated at the confluence of several tributaries that form the Liu River, which flows southward into a tributary of the Hsi Xi River. In recent contemporary times Liu-chou Liuzhou has become the focus of a highway system and is linked by rail northeastward to Kuei-lin and Heng-yang Guilin and Hengyang (in Hunan), southwestward to Nan-ning Nanning and the Vietnamese border at P’ing-hsiangPingxiang, northwestward to Kuei-yang Guiyang (in Kweichow Guizhou province) and Szechwan provinceChongqing, northward to Huaihua and Zhangjiajie (both in Hunan), and southeastward to the port of Chan-chiang Zhanjiang (in Kwangtung Guangdong province).

Until comparatively recent centuries, the area was occupied by non-Han Chinese peoples. The county of T’an-chung Tanzhong was founded there in the 1st century BC BCE; it was renamed Ma-p’ing Maping in 591 , it and became the seat of a prefecture under the T’ang Tang dynasty (618–907) and of a superior prefecture (Liu-chouLiuzhou) after 1368. In the Middle Ages, however, However, during most of the Ming period (1368–1644) it was little more than a frontier garrison and trading post, often used as a place of exile. Through the centuries it has frequently been a centre of rebellion—for example, in the risings led by Ch’en Chin in 1004–08, by Chou Chien in the late 15th century, and by Wei Chin-t’ien in the second quarter of the 16th century. Only in the 17th century did the area become dominated by Chinese settlers.

Liu-chou Liuzhou has always been a centre for the collection of agricultural products, timber, and vegetable and tung oil from north-central Kwangsi Guangxi and southern Kweichow Guizhou and has had handicraft industries based on local products. It has been renowned for the production of coffins as well as for papermaking, tobacco curing, and textile manufacturing. There are also plants for oil extraction and grain milling.

Since 1949 there has been considerable industrial expansion ; new installations include and diversification, and Liuzhou has become the most important industrial city and the economic centre of the province. Among the first of these enterprises were large lumber-processing and woodworking factories as well as and chemical plants (extracting sulfur and producing alcohols). Liu-chou supports Liuzhou developed a large engineering industry, producing agricultural machinery and gasoline and diesel engines; there is also a large , as well as a locomotive repair works. In the late 1950s a steel and iron plant was built, using rich local iron ores and coal from the Ho-shan Heshan mines (on the railway to the southeastsouth). In the 1960s Liu-chouLiuzhou, in addition to becoming a major manufacturer of tractors, also developed built a large fertilizer plant and began to produce cement. There is More-recent industrial development includes plants manufacturing automobiles, textiles, nonferrous metals, food, construction equipment, and electrical machinery. There are a large thermal power station , and there are also in the city and several hydroelectric installations in the district. In addition to being a rail and highway hub, Liuzhou has daily air service connecting it with other major cities in the country. Pop. (19822002 est.) 581,, 830,515; (2007 est.) urban agglom., 1,497,000.