Songyuan is a young city, 1992 a prefecture-level city approved by the State Council. It is located in the middle and west of Jilin Province, in the triangle of Harbin, Changchun and Daqing. The southern end of Songnen Plain lies on the beautiful Songhua River. It was selected as one of the top 200 charming small and medium-sized cities in China in 2009 (ranked 29th) and one of the top ten charming cities in Northeast China in 2009 (ranked 6th). In 2007, it was selected as a national garden city. Selected as "China City with the Most Investment Potential in the Eyes of Multinational Corporations in 2006" (ranking 19). Together with Baotou, Hohhot and Erdos, it is also called "the four little dragons of economic growth in northern China".