Municipal officals attend an unveiling ceremony as the city of Simao in southwest China's Yunnan province has formally taken on the new moniker Pu'er on Sunday, April 8, 2007. [Photo: Xinhua]

Simao city in China's Southwest Yunnan province has been officially renamed as "Pu'er" on Sunday, following the name of a valuable tea in the area.

Xinhua News Agency reported that with approval from the State Council, Pu'er has formally replaced Simao as the name of the tea-growing city, while the former Pu'er Hani and Yi Autonomous County under the governance of the city changes its name to Ning'er to avoid possible confusion.

Local government said the historical origin and public will were both taken into the consideration of the name change.

The city, famous for Pu'er tea growing for hundreds of years, was first granted the Pu'er name in 1729 when the Qing government established an administrative region there.

It was renamed as Simao in the 1950s after the founding of the People's Republic of China. More and more people have called for the name reversion in recent years and the change was approved by the central government at the beginning of this year.

Located in southwest China's border area, the city covers an area of 45,000 square kilometers with 2.57 million population and 14 ethnic minorities.