Its urban agglomeration built-up (or metro) area, largely contiguous with Cixi plus the county-level city of Yuyao, had 3,083,520 inhabitants.

Cixi is located in the Zhejiang Province of eastern China and has a subtropical monsoon climate with an average temperature of 17 °C (63 °F).

Fifteen towns and five subdistricts are under the jurisdiction of Cixi City and there are 325 administrative villages including committees and communities.

Shanglin Lake celadon has been sold overseas as a "Maritime Silk Road" to the world, historical tideland reclamation area has become one of the areas with the most abundant land reserve resources in Zhejiang Province, and the immigration culture has several years of history.

Cixi was listed as the "demonstration base for community digital learning in the national city and countryside" by the Ministry of Education in 2010 and 2011.