Zhoushan, situated in the northeastern part of Zhejiang Province, is the only prefecture-level city in China that is composed solely of islands. Lying outside of the Hangzhou Bay, the city is seated south the mouth of the Yangtze River. Zhoushan Archipelago consists of 1,390 islands and 3,306 reefs. Zhoushan Main Island is the fourth largest island in China, following Hainan, Taiwan and Chongming islands.

Zhoushan Port is an important port area of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, which was the second largest port in China in terms of container throughput in 2007. Zhoushan Port has 19 deepwater berths. The cargo turnover at Zhoushan Port rose 12.3% to 1.3 billion tons in 2007, accounting for 41.4% of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port’s total. The Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport offers regular flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Wuyishan, Xiamen, Fuzhou and Guangzhou.

Zhoushan is rich in natural resources. It has over 1,163 species of marine plants and animals. The city also has rich oil and gas resources. The proven gas and light oil reserves in the city are 10.8 billion cubic meters and 10.8 million tons, respectively.