Chongqing- In this exclusive interview with iChongqing, Xiao Jincheng, director of the Institute of Spatial Planning & Regional Economy under the National Development and Reform Commission’s Academy of Macroeconomy, talks about the visions and prospects of building the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle.
“I used to think that there’s a bit of rivalry between Chongqing and Chengdu, but now I’m convinced that the two cities are not in competition with each other,” says Xiao, citing the equally divided 300-kilometer influence reach in between the two metropolitan areas.
In this respect, Xiao believes that both cities can give full play to their economic potentials and assume leading roles in their specific areas, which is why the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle has an explicit reference to the idea of “Twin Cities.”
Chongqing has an edge in innovative development for the abundant university resources and talent pool and its ability to tap on the Yangtze River golden waterway's potentials, according to Xiao. While Chengdu also enjoys advantages in its electronics industries and the densely populated city clusters in the Sichuan Basin's surrounding areas.
However, “City Clusters and Metropolitan Circles are different ideas. The former, in a narrow sense, only refers to the inter-city relations, while the latter, in a broad sense, also includes the relations between urban areas and rural areas,” says Xiao.
Chongqing is not a typical normal-sized city with only urban areas; it’s a megacity with many surrounding counties and districts, most of which are in the less-developed Wuling Mountain area. Therefore, you can expect to achieve economic success under the master plan of building the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle without considering the rural areas' needs.
Compared with the other national-level regional economy clusters such the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Collaborative Development Zone, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Yangtze River Delta Metropolitan Region, “Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle enjoys unique development corner-overtaking advantages in the Yangtze River golden waterway, which is a gateway to the vast demands from the untapped Western Development Plan, and in the sheer size of the one hundred million population living in the land of plenty.”
In building the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, there will also be waves of benefits for the general public, especially those living in the two cities, Xiao continues. “First of all, people will see substantial growth in their income because of the energized and fast-growing economy; then it’s greatly improved living conditions, such as bigger houses and better apartments; finally, the various means of advanced transportation will make traveling much more pleasant, whether it’s within the city, across the country, or around the world.”
The China-Europe Railway Express (Yuxinou), the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative, and the Belt and Road Initiative are all vivid evidence of the national westward-shifting economic strategy, according to Xiao. Chengdu and Chongqing can further build on this innate strength and emerge as China’s new growth engine by committing to the “
Dual Circulation” development pattern in which domestic and international markets boost each other with domestic market playing the leading role.