In Liangjiang New Area, from industrial parks to transport hubs, the construction of key projects is in full swing; from scientific research institutes to smart factories, several high-tech projects are advanced; from equipment production lines to logistics plants, several foreign benchmarking projects are being launched at a faster pace.

Thanks to reform and opening-up, this inland area has quickly been connected to the world, with its every step towards China and the world.

Liangjiang seizes the current opportunities to seek leapfrog development

From its establishment to 2019, the GDP of Liangjiang has increased from RMB 100.2 billion to RMB 339.1 billion, ranking the fourth among the 19 national new areas in China for several consecutive years. With an area less than 1.5% of the city's total, it has contributed about 15% of the city's total economic output, industrial output, and digital added value, and gathered 30% of the total amount of foreign investment in actual use and the total volume of foreign trade, 50% of the Fortune Global 500 enterprises, as well as 60% of the auto production. And its economic aggregate planned construction land and population all accounted for about one-third of that in the central urban area in Chongqing.

The proportion of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries stood at 0.4:31.1:68.4, an advanced manufacturing system supported by the four major industries including automobiles, electronic information, equipment manufacturing, and biomedicine has taken shape, the output value of industries above designated size reached RMB 400.7 billion, and the output value of high-tech manufacturing accounted for 43% of the total industrial output value in the city; with big data intelligence, it promoted the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and the digital economy accounted for more than a quarter of the city's industries; a modern service industry system, mainly consisting of finance, logistics, service trade, commerce, cultural tourism, and exhibition, has been established, and the added value of the tertiary industry reached up to RMB 231.9 billion.

Liangjiang New Area covers 70% of the area of China (Chongqing) Pilot Free Trade Zone and is the core area of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity project. In the area, four open platforms, including Guoyuan Port, Lianglu-Cuntan Free Trade Port Area, Jiangbeizui International Financial Center, Yuelai International Exhibition & Convention City, Chongqing Liangjiang International Cooperation Center and many international cooperation industrial parks including China-Germany, China-Switzerland, China-Italy, and China-Israel cooperation parks have been established. In the Liangjiang area of the Free Trade Zone, 307 national and municipal pilot reform tasks were copied and promoted. Under the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity project, a total of 59 projects have been signed, with a total value of USD 11.5 billion. And the new area has also introduced 158 of the Fortune Global 500 enterprises.

It has a number of platforms to attract talented people, such as Liangjiang New Area's Pioneer Park for Overseas Scholars, Western Returned Scholars Association and National Offshore Innovation & Entrepreneurship Base for Overseas Talents. It has stepped up efforts to promote the construction of three innovation platforms, namely Lijia Smart Park, Liangjiang Digital Economy Industrial Park, and Liangjiang Collaborative Innovation Zone. It has bought together six national innovation bases, 38 municipal key institutes, 280 city-level or above R&D institutions, and 409 high-tech enterprises, and the number of invention patents per 10,000 population in the area has exceeded 30.

Liangjiang has implemented integrated development of industries and cities. The built-up area has expanded from 158 square kilometers to 238 square kilometers, and the resident population increased from 1.5 million to 2.7 million. American AI High School, YCIS, Singapore's Raffles Hospital have settled here. A number of new commercial centers, such as the Bonded Business District, Aegean Sea, IKEA, and Outlets, have been set up here. And a number of cultural tourism projects, such as Happy Valley and Liangjiang Film and Television City, have been put into use.

Liangjiang strives to build Chongqing into an inland city for opening-up and a smart city

On May 14, Liangjiang New Area signed a contract with Faurecia Group via video links. According to the contract, Faurecia Clarion Electronics Chongqing R&D Headquarters will be set up in Liangjiang New Area. "Chongqing and Liangjiang New Area are strategic markets in the southwest China market of Faurecia. Liangjiang has a strong industrial foundation, and we hope to further practical cooperation with it," said Francois Tardif, President of Faurecia China.

Openness is the cultural gene of Liangjiang New Area. Liangjiang is an important strategic platform for Chongqing to take the lead in opening up and promote opening up in western China. Liangjiang will fully get integrated into the joint building of the Belt and Road, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the construction of the International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC), make good use of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity project and the core platform of the Chongqing Pilot Free Trade Zone, accelerate the upgrading of four open platforms, i.e., Guoyuan Port, Lianglu-Cuntan Free Trade Port Area, Jiangbeizui International Financial Center, and Yuelai International Exhibition & Convention City, strive to build an opening platform that connects the world, create a world-class opening environment, promote all-round and high-level opening-up, and lead the western region in developing an open economy of high quality.

Liangjiang New Area has designated the year of 2020 as the "Year to Realize High-quality Industry Development." It will speed up efforts to expand and strengthen competitive industrial clusters, focusing on electronic information and automobile industries, and accelerate efforts to cultivate and strengthen strategic emerging industrial clusters, centering on comprehensive health-care industry, high-end equipment, and aerospace, to push industries to advance towards the mid-to-high-end global value chain and build a modern industrial system boasting strong market competitiveness and sustainability.

In addition, Liangjiang New Area aims at building an international, green, intelligent, and modern city with a cultural vibe. It will do overall planning for the three spatial layouts, including production, living, and ecology, and for the systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, and grasses in the area. It will also ramp up the supply of high-quality public services, and accelerate the improvement of urban function and quality.