The Ministry of Culture and Tourism recently released the second batch of national culture and tourism consumption pilot cities. Jiangbei District of Chongqing is on the list. Before that, Guanyinqiao Cultural Recreation and Leisure Area were selected among the first national night culture and tourism consumption clusters. 

To stimulate consumption based on new opportunities

Located to the north of the Yangtze River, Jiangbei District owns both mountains and waters, with a shoreline of 127 km. Covering an area of 220.8 km², the district has nine sub-districts and three towns, with a permanent residents population of 926,500 and the urbanization rate reaching 99.2%. The added value of the cultural and tourism industry in 2020 totaled nearly 13.3 billion yuan, accounting for about 10% of GDP. Since 2021, the district has received about 34.249 million domestic and foreign visits, up 34% year on year. The total tourism revenue reached about 7.49 billion yuan, up 68.8%.

In recent years, Jiangbei has seized the historical opportunity of constructing the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle and firmly grasped the new trend of consumption upgrading based on the building of Chongqing into an "international consumption center." With the integration of culture, tourism, and business as its core, the district has been striving to become more international, high-end, characteristic, and intelligent and vigorously building a highland of cultural and tourism consumption with Bayu characteristics and an influential international tourist destination in the country.

As the good economic foundation keeps stimulating consumption, Jiangbei shows strong consumption power, ranking among the top in Chongqing. The district has boasted more than 4,000 cultural and tourism enterprises and four tourist attractions with an A rating, all of which are national 4A ones. There are four municipal cultural industry demonstration parks in the district, including Beicang Cultural & Creative Quarter and Mao'ershi (lit. Cat Stone), and six municipal cultural industry demonstration bases, including No. 42 Liyuchi (lit. Carp Pond). Besides, Chongqing 9th Street was rated as a municipal cultural and creative industrial park. Jiangbei possesses 109 travel agencies, and the number of group tour contracts ranks first in the city all year round.

According to Jiangbei District Commission of Culture and Tourism Development, based on the good industrial development foundation, the district's per capita cultural and entertainment consumption expenditure, growth rate, and the proportion in per capita consumption expenditure of residents are multiplying year by year. The per capita cultural and entertainment (including education) consumption expenditure in urban areas of the district reached 3,170 yuan in 2020, with a growth rate of 8.82%, higher than the national average of about 56%. That made the district rank at the forefront of the city.

Focus on the nighttime economy

Under the good economic foundation, consumption factor support in Jiangbei has been continuously improved in recent years. There are five large theaters: Chongqing Grand Theater, Qunxing Theater, MAO Livehouse, Meiliya Theater, and Beicang Art Space. With the number of seats totaling 4,500, they hold nearly 800 international theatrical performances every year. Jiangbei has built eight high-end museums and galleries, including Peon Art Museum Chongqing, Long Museum Chongqing, Chongqing Museum of Finance, Tieshanping Yunling Art Center, etc.

The district's nighttime economy has become a benchmark for the city in terms of the characteristic consumption experience. Guanyinqiao Cultural Recreation and Leisure Area has been selected among the first batch of national night cultural and tourism consumption clusters. It witnesses an average daily visit of more than 0.6 million, an annual average number of guests in hotels exceeding 2.5 million, and the average yearly revenue of nighttime consumption topping 12 billion yuan. Undoubtedly, Jiangbei is the first choice for visitors to experience Chongqing's urban culture and fashion trend.

In the next step, Jiangbei will grip the historic opportunity to build the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle while constructing Chongqing into an "international consumption center." It will "take the lead in four aspects" and endeavor to establish a demonstration area featuring high-quality development and high-quality life. It will focus on raising the cultural soft power, fully manifesting the city's humanistic quality, and enhancing its cultural and tourism functions. Moreover, the district will strive to build Chongqing into an international night cultural, and tourism consumption leader and a national cultural and tourism consumption demonstration city, and continuously improve the city's cultural and tourism consumption environment where those near are made happy, and those who are far are attracted.