The State Council has formally approved Chongqing to launch a comprehensive pilot program for expanding the opening up of the service industry. In this pilot program, Chongqing will build an international consumption center, a financial center in western China, and a center for international exchanges in central and west China. This raises a requirement for Chongqing and brings more opportunities to this city, accelerating its building of an international consumption center.
Chongqing is striving to build an international consumption center. (photo provided to iChongqing)
Upgrading consumption structure
As the only municipality directly under the central government in western China, Chongqing has seen rapid economic growth in recent years. With Chongqing's per capita GDP exceeding 10,000 U.S. dollars, Chongqing has seen marked improvements in residents’ spending power and consumption structure. The focus of consumption is rapidly shifting from material consumption to service consumption.
"Now I prefer higher-quality products, and I expect a more convenient access to specialty products from all over the world," said Sun Lin, a resident
Facing new consumption trends, Chongqing needs to make a change. This service opening-up pilot program offers Chongqing an excellent opportunity.
For example, the pilot program proposes to support Chongqing in launching an innovative pilot project for the displays and transactions of imported goods in the core business districts and optimize the trade facilitation process for batch-wise delivering and centralized customs declaration of imported goods. In the years to come, Chongqing is suggested to carry out innovative pilot projects for transporting imported goods in places like Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street.
Zhang Zhikui, Director of Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce, said that this pilot program would stimulate market operation, introduce more high-quality and diversified commodities, provide better services for residents, and meet people's demands for a high-quality life.
Advancing transformation and upgrading of core business districts
The pilot program puts forward specific requirements in business and offers support to some of Chongqing’s core business districts.
For example, Chongqing will launch innovative pilot projects for the displays and transactions of imported goods. Before this, Chongqing had set up the Belt and Road Commodity Exhibition and Trading Center in Lianglu-Cuntan Free Trade Port Area. Now, the coverage of this policy has been extended to core business districts like Jiefangbei, which has played an active role in accelerating the agglomeration of international consumer brands in Chongqing's core business districts.
Another example is that the pilot program clearly suggests basing financial technology innovation demonstration zones on central business districts like Jiangbeizui, Jiefangbei, and Changjiahui, and measures to support the development of financial technology innovation activities in line with the law.
This pilot program will bring new development opportunities to Chongqing’s core business districts. Specifically, Chongqing will further enrich consumption formats, strengthen service functions, gather international, specialized, and brand-oriented modern high-end services, and endeavor to build the core carriers of the international consumption center and the modern high-end service clusters.