Chongqing- "You can borrow books from Chengdu and return them in Chongqing, serving the welfare of the 'bookworms' in both places," said a Chongqing resident who recently returned books borrowed from Chengdu at Chongqing Yuzhong District Library through the borrowing machine of the Sichuan-Chongqing reading project.

This is just a microcosm of the collective construction of the modern international city by Southwest China's Chongqing and Chengdu. In recent years, both places have signed a series of cooperation agreements in different fields under the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, developing an international comprehensive transportation hub, a world-class advanced manufacturing cluster and a modern international city circle with shared social security services.

Covering all 43 public libraries in Chongqing

The book return benefited from the social security card of the Sichuan-Chongqing reading project which was launched in June 2021. At present, the Sichuan Provincial Library, Chongqing Library, and Chengdu Library have realized resource sharing, and residents of Sichuan and Chongqing can enjoy the book borrowing and returning service with their ID cards or social security cards. 

Not only borrowing books, but the project also aims to help with some reading promotion activities. The Sichuan Provincial Librarian introduced that Sichuan and Chongqing libraries have cooperated frequently in the past two years, and in the future, there will be more reading activities organized with a strong sophisticated atmosphere in both places. 

It plans to open up the book resource network of 86 public libraries in the two places by 2023, covering all 43 public libraries in Chongqing, according to the official.

Meanwhile, the facilitation of essential public services in the two places has been further improved, and 311 government services of the Sichuan-Chongqing office items and 39 convenient life action tasks have been implemented. From January to May this year, 463,000 person-times of cross-province medical visits  in Chengdu and Chongqing were directly settled with a year-on-year increase of 212%.

Three-dimensional transportation network

"Promoting regional connectivity is the primary task for the joint construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, and transportation should be given priority," said Xu Renan, director of Chongqing Municipal Transportation Bureau. Over the years, both places have achieved good results in water, land and air transportation. 

In terms of water transport, Chongqing and Chengdu jointly explore and promote the extension of the functions of the Yangtze River port and the facilitation of customs clearance. Chongqing Guoyuan Port and Chengdu Economic & Technological Development Zone jointly build a waterless port, creating a link between dual ports.

As for land transport, Chongqing and Chengdu deepen the joint construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC), and the frequency of sea-rail intermodal trains is growing. On June 30, the China-Europe Railway Express (CR Express) in Chengdu and Chongqing exceeded 20,000 trains, becoming an important milestone in the history of CR Express across the country. 

With regard to air transport, Chongqing and Chengdu jointly build a world-class airport cluster. From January to May this year, the passenger throughput of Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport and Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport ranked second and third in China, respectively, and the cargo and mail volume maintained the top ten in the country.

(Wang Lu, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)