Zhaoqing (Chinese: 肇庆), alternately romanized as Shiuhing,[note 1] is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province, China.

"Zhaoqing" is the pinyin romanization; the earlier Postal Map form "Shiuhing" derives from the name's Cantonese pronunciation.

When the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century, Zhaoqing was still an important center, serving as the seat of the Viceroy of Liangguang (Guangdong and Guangxi).

[5] Matteo Ricci's On the Christian Expedition among the Sinae tells of the early visits of Macanese-based Europeans to Zhaoqing.

The Viceroy Chen Rui (陈瑞)[note 2] summoned Macao's mayor and bishop in the early 1580s, but the town sent its auditor Mattia Penella and the Italian Jesuit Michele Ruggieri in their place in 1582.

Ruggieri left for Rome in 1588 but Ricci remained until the next year, when a new viceroy expelled him from the city and obliged the Jesuits to relocate to Shaozhou (now Shaoguan).

The rich local resources within the mountainous regions include coal, limestone, copper, lead, zinc, granite, gold, sulfur, gypsum and other minerals.

In the agriculture sector, the fertile plains yield paddy rice, sugar cane, aquatic products, fruits, rosin and cassia bark.

Food and beverages, building materials, electronics, micro bioengineering, chemicals, equipment and machinery, textile and garments are the pillar industries.

The city government of Zhaoqing is currently seeking to improve its higher education system and preserve cultural resources.

Direct train and bus services connect it to Guangzhou, Hong Kong and other cities in Guangdong.

It is connected with Hong Kong via the KCRC Guangdong Through Train service from Zhaoqing railway station.