On December 28, the "2022 Chongqing Regional and Industrial Scientific and Technological Competitiveness and Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle Collaborative Innovation Index Achievement Release Conference" was held online and offline.

At the conference, heads of the relevant research groups of Chongqing Academy of Science and Technology for Development presented three think tank achievements, namely the 2022 Evaluation Report on Scientific and Technological Competitiveness of Chongqing's Districts and Counties, the 2022 Chongqing Industrial Scientific and Technological Competitiveness Evaluation Report and the 2022 Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle Collaborative Innovation Index Report. 

The 2022 Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle Collaborative Innovation Index Report shows that the level of collaborative innovation in the Chengdu-Chongqing region has steadily increased from 2019 to 2021. In 2021, the collaborative innovation index increased by 20.01% compared to 2019, with a year-on-year growth of 10.28% and an average annual growth rate of 9.55%. Among them, the indicators about industrial linkage saw the highest growth rate, up 44.88% compared with 2019. The average annual growth rate reached 20.55%.

Chengdu-Chongqing collaborative innovation index and its growth rate from 2019 to 2021. (Photo/ Chongqing Academy of Science and Technology)

In these reports, highlights of collaborative innovation can be found in the Chengdu-Chongqing region. 

First, the internal expenditure of R&D funds increased yearly, with a growth rate of 110.5% from 2016 to 2021, 32.2 percentage points higher than the national average. 

Second, the intensity of R&D investment reached a new high, with a rise of 0.49 percentage points from 2016 to 2021, 0.15 percentage points higher than the national average. The gap with the national average narrowed from 0.38% to 0.23%. 

Third, the R&D investment of universities and research institutes grew significantly, up 113.2% from 2016 to 2021. The total R&D investment of universities and research institutes in Chongqing increased by 109.5% to surpass the ten billion yuan threshold for the first time. 

Fourth, environmental support has been continuously strengthened, and the transportation infrastructure has been improved and optimized over time. From 2016 to 2021, the growth of expressways and railways in terms of density in the Chengdu-Chongqing region reached 23.9%, 12 percentage points higher than the national average.

The reports provide an important reference for the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee and Chongqing Municipal People's Government, relevant municipal departments, and the competent science and technology departments at the district and county levels to formulate sci-tech innovation policies and sci-tech development strategies. They are of great significance for promoting sci-tech innovation in the Chengdu-Chongqing region, especially in Chongqing, and facilitating the high-quality economic development of the city.

According to the 2022 Chongqing Industrial Scientific and Technological Competitiveness Evaluation Report, among the eight key industries in Chongqing in 2021, the sci-tech competitiveness of the automobile (including intelligent connected new energy vehicles) and equipment manufacturing industries ranked 5th in China, that of the consumer goods industry ranked 6th, the electronic information industry 8th, the biomedicine and materials industries 10th, the chemical industry 13th, and the energy industry 14th.

The Changan Automobile, a Chongqing automobile enterprise representative, is producing cars. (Photo/ Changan Automobile)

The 2022 Evaluation Report on the Scientific and Technological Competitiveness of Chongqing's Districts and Counties ranked Yubei, Jiangbei, and Shapingba Districts among the top three in 2021. The top three in the town clusters of the Three Gorges Reservoir area in northeast Chongqing are Wanzhou, Zhongxian, and Kaizhou. The top three in the Wuling mountainous area in southeast Chongqing are Shizhu, Qianjiang, and Wulong.