Jingyuan was a protected cruiser built for the Imperial Chinese Navy. She was built by Armstrong Whitworth in Elswick, England. She was one of two Zhiyuen-class protected cruisers built, alongside her sister ship Zhiyuen. Jingyuan was armed with a smaller number of large sized naval guns, as opposed to later ships of this type which carried a larger number of smaller guns. This was because the medium-calibre quick-firing gun had yet to be introduced, thus a warship's firepower at the time was largely a function of individual shell weight rather than volume of fire.

The Imperial Chinese Navy was the modern navy of the Qing dynasty of China established in 1875. An Imperial naval force in China first came into existence from 1132 during the Song dynasty and existed in some form until the end of the Qing dynasty in 1912. However, the name "Imperial Chinese Navy" usually only refers to the Qing navy that existed between 1875 and 1912, with "Imperial Chinese Navy" as its official English name.