Chongqing- Chongqing strives to step up efforts to build an international consumption center in the future, according to a promotion conference on February 27. 

In recent years, Chongqing has centered on building a famous city in five aspects, namely international shopping, food, conventions & exhibitions, tourism, and culture, as well as coordinating the implementation of the ten major projects such as pooling international consumption resources and upgrading the quality of international shopping areas. 

Sustained prosperity of the consumer market

"In the process of building an international consumption center, Chongqing highlights its distinctive advantages and creates new diverse integrated consumption scenarios and landmarks so that the appeal of consumption has been uplifted and the city's consumer market has seen sustained prosperity," said an official at the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce.

In 2021, Chongqing's retail sales of consumer goods reached 1,396.77 billion yuan, an increase of 18.5% year on year and six percentage points higher than the national average.

Mo Yuanming, a researcher from Chongqing Technology and Business University, believed that the rapid growth of its retail sales of consumer goods indicates that Chongqing has a strong consumption capacity and a booming consumer market.

Therefore, Chongqing has performed well in terms of consumption prosperity, which is an important metric to assess an international consumption center.

"In addition, the metrics also include international popularity, commercial activity, and access convenience," Mo said that Chongqing has delivered an outstanding performance in those respects over the past years.

As the city has ramped up the construction of onshore and offshore corridors, its access convenience has been improved significantly. In 2021 alone, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport opened five new international cargo routes. As of 2022, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor connected 311 ports in 106 countries (regions); China Railway Express to Europe (Yuxinou) had operated more than 9,000 trains in total, ranking first in China.

International or regional consumption centers

Benchmarking against the applicable metrics, there is still a long way to go before Chongqing builds itself into an international consumption center.

Although Chongqing's international popularity has been increased continuously and it ranks among the top cities in the world in terms of competitiveness, Chongqing was listed as one of the beta-level global cities, the second tier, in GaWC's world city roster, which is the world's authoritative ranking of first-, second-, third- and fourth-tier cities in the world.

"This shows that Chongqing's international popularity and competitiveness still need to be improved," added Mo.

How should Chongqing compensate for these weaknesses in the future? The director of Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce said that Chongqing should focus on the international goal with the theme of consumption and highlight the functions of the center with the characteristics of the city.

In detail, efforts will be made to cultivate a number of international and regional consumption centers and pilot demonstration cities, demonstration business districts, and characteristic blocks for the integrated development of commerce, culture, tourism, and sports.

Moreover, Chongqing will continue to optimize the business environment, improve its service functions, and raise its internationalization and consumption comfort.

Especially in drawing international consumers, Chongqing should foster the future brand image of the city to inspire the demand of consumers by presenting the city's beautiful landscape, urban customs, traditional culture, favorable business environment, etc.