Dingxi is located in the middle of Gansu province, with a total area of 19,600 km2, it had a permanent population of 2.83 million at the end of 2019. Located at the intersection of the Loess Plateau, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the West Qinling Mountains, Dingxi city is also known  as "Longzhong" and regarded as the center of central Gansu province in economy, politics, culture and transportation;  it’s therefore widely known as "the throat of Gansu province and the gateway of Lanzhou city". It has become an important surrounding area of the Lanzhou-Baiyin Metropolitan Economic Circle and the Guantian Economic Zone, and a significant meeting place for transportation in western China.

Dingxi has a history of more than 2,200 years stretching back to Longxi county’s being set up in the Warring States Period. It is regarded as the important birthplace of the Yellow River civilization of the Chinese nation, the world-renowned naming place of Majiayao culture, the site where the world's Li family searched for roots and worshiped ancestors, and the intersection of the Qijia, Siwa, Xindian and other prehistoric cultures. Besides, it is also viewed as an important distribution center of Chinese painting and calligraphy works. The Warring States Qin Great Wall stretches 300 kilometers from its western beginning in Lintong county of Dingxi city. Within the territory there are natural landscapes represented by the national 4A-level scenic spots in Zhang county, such as Guiqing Mountain, Shade Mountain, and the Weiheyuan Scenic Area; the red tourist attractions represented by the Red Army Long March "Bangluo Conference" in Tongwei county, the "Yinzhou Conference" Memorial Hall in Yin county, and "Longxi Hall" and other historical cultural landscapes. Thanks to its "cool" natural climate, Dingxi has become the best summer resort and tourist city in China. In 2019, Dingxi city was named one of the "top 10 cities for summer resorts" in China. Dingxi has a new brand slogan for it cultural tourism industry: "Where the Weihe River originates, Li’s family began, and Angelica sinensis exists".

Dingxi city is a major agricultural center in Gansu province with distinctive industrial characteristics. It is the core area of China's comprehensive experimental zone for the development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry and one of the first regional potato seed breeding bases in China. It makes every effort to be the "medicine capital of China", the "potato capital of China", the "grass capital of western China" and a national characteristic seed industry base. Its planting area for Chinese medicinal materials is stable at about 1.5 million mu, ranking first among prefecture-level cities in China.