Mingshui Economic and Technological Development Zone lies in Zhangqiu District, a new district in the east of Jinan City. Famed as Jinan’s satellite town, Zhangqiu District covers an area of 1,719 km² and has jurisdiction over 18 towns and sub-districts and 921 administrative villages (neighborhoods). Since it was transformed into a district from a city in 2016, Zhangqiu District has held on to the major task of replacing old drivers of growth with new ones, put into practice four projects for transportation, industrial, ecological and urban improvement, and built five sectors combining “mountain, spring, river, lake and city”, in a bid to develop itself into an industrial highland, a livable new district and a cultural tourist district in eastern Jinan. With a prime location, a profound culture, a beautiful ecological environment, a sound industrial system and good momentum for development, Zhangqiu District is dubbed National Ecological Demonstration District, Excellent Tourist District of China, National Sanitary District and National Garden District. Over the years, it has won a couple of laudatory titles including Millennia-old Town and Hometown of Chinese Calligraphy.

Zhangqiu District enjoys easy accessibility. Neighboring Shandong’s capital Jinan in the west, Binzhou City in the north, Zibo City in the east and Laiwu and Tai’an Cities in the south, it right sits right where these five cities meet, making itself a propeller to enhance interconnection between Jinan and surrounding counties and cities, optimize industrial and urban pattern and achieve balanced development between regions; situated within the depths of the capital city cluster economic circle with a radius of 70 km, it is ideally placed as an important node of Jinan–Laiwu Cooperation Area, Jinan–Zibo Optimization Area and Jinan–Binzhou Linkage Area. The Qingdao–Jinan Railway, Jinan–Qingdao Highway and Jinan–Qingdao Expressway, Jingshidong Road, Zhanglai Road and Panwang link with each other and form a ramified and accessible transportation network. Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport in the northwest of Zhangqiu District is a 30-minute ride away from the Beijing–Shanghai Expressway and Beijing–Fuzhou Expressway, and a 3-hour ride away from the Port of Qingdao. Meanwhile, Qingdao–Jinan High-speed Railway and Jinan–Laiwu High-speed Railway which are slated for construction and operation in the near future  will stop at Zhangqiu District. The 500-km radius around the Zone covers two municipalities including Beijing and Tianjin and 32 large- and medium-sized cities of Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong Provinces. With a population of 550 million, about 40% of national total, the region achieved the GDP of over RMB 30 trillion, accounting for 46.7% of national total.

Zhangqiu District boasts a time-honored history and a splendid culture. Notably, it is at Longshan Town in Zhangqiu District that the world-famous Longshan Culture was discovered for the first time, hence its name. Chengziya Site, Xihe Cultural Site, Xiaojingshan Cultural Site, Luozhuang Han Tomb and Color-painted Terracotta Warriors of the Han Dynasty on Mount Weishan were rated as “Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries of China” of 1993, 1997, 2000 and 2003 respectively. With God-given mountains and rivers, this land is home to a galaxy of historic luminaries. Zou Yan (philosopher of the Warring States period), Fang Xuanling (prime minister of the Tang Dynasty), Li Qingzhao (poet of the Song Dynasty), Zhang Yanghao (verse writer of the Yuan Dynasty), Li Kaixian (litterateur of the Ming Dynasty), Ma Guohan (literatures collector of the Qing Dynasty) and Meng Luochuan (famous Confucian businessman) all have left deep footprints on the history of Chinese civilization.

Zhangqiu District enjoys a beautiful natural and ecological environment. Endowed with mountains and rivers, it is characterized by three kinds of land forms including mountain, plain and beach, whose areas respectively account for 1/3 of the district’s total; rich in water resources with myriad springs, it enjoys a long-standing laudatory title of “Spring Town”. With a dazzling array of scenic areas such as world-class excellent ecology scenic area Baimai Springs Scenic Area, Baiyunhu National Wetland Park, Xiuyuanhe National Water Park and Shandong Zhangqiu National Forest Park, it is rated as a national ecological demonstration district and ranked among the first batch of national eco-districts.