Chongqing - The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China reiterated the necessity to promote the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, the planning outline of which requires the Chongqing Liangjiang and Sichuan Tianfu new areas in southwestern China to play the key role of industrial flagships, with priority given to strategic projects and pilot demonstrations on the national level.

At the ongoing national Two Sessions,  members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from Sichuan and Chongqing submitted a joint proposal and advised that industrial cooperation between the two new districts should be further strengthened, with a focus on building an economic center of national influence achieved through technological innovation, a highland for reform and opening up, and high-quality living.

The region produced impressive economic output figures for 2022, with the Chongqing Liangjiang New Area ranking fourth nationwide among comparable areas with a GDP of 455.06 billion yuan (about 65.49 billion U.S. dollars) and contributing about 15% of the total municipality wide. Meanwhile, the Sichuan Tianfu New Area came in fifth thanks to a regional GDP of 453.24 billion yuan, which accounted for 7.8% of the province as a whole.

Industrial cooperation between the two new areas has already taken shape, as Chongqing and Sichuan have jointly established eight major industrial alliances focused on strengthening the competitiveness of automobiles and electronics, while industrial clusters target a market scale of 1 trillion yuan through improving intelligent networked vehicles in terms of quality and efficiency. 

New strategies to build on current success

Liangjiang New Area produced 1.194 million vehicles with an output value of 212.33 billion yuan in 2020. Among these, new energy vehicles totaled 216,000 units, accounting for about 60% of the production in Chongqing Municipality. At the same time, Tianfu New Area impressed with production figures of 980,000 units worth 155.06 billion yuan, of which 40,000 new energy vehicles represented an increase of 36%. These figures demonstrate that conditions are ripe for greater industrial cooperation in the Chengdu-Chongqing region.

Among the recommendations was a statement calling for the National Development and Reform Commission to provide multi-faceted policy support for the region, to resolve issues in production capacity for leading vehicle manufacturers, and joint selection of Chengdu-Chongqing as a demonstration city cluster in the field of hydrogen-fueled vehicles.

Furthermore, It has been recommended the commission steps up efforts to support industrial transfer from the east to western regions, which has proven conducive to optimizing the industrial division of labor under a national development pattern. In this endeavor, subsidies will increase in scale and scope for infrastructure-orientated projects that settle in the region, enhancing their attractiveness in terms of economic development and vitality.

Additional recommendations stated the National Development and Reform Commission should confer priority towards the Chongqing-Chengdu region in the allocation of major industrial projects and platform construction, with a focus on the Liangjiang and Tianfu new areas in order to promote national development strategies as part of an industrial cluster.

Li Jianbin, executive deputy director of the Liangjiang New Area Twin City Office, explained that Sichuan and Chongqing have adhered to the concept of "one family" coordinated development since 2020 and closely follow the strategic positioning of "two centers and two highlands." These will promote joint construction in the economic circle as the new areas work closely together in the fields of industry, opening up, public services, and technological innovation.

In the next step, Liangjiang New Area will seek deeper cooperation with Tianfu New Area as they further open up the industrial supply chain, create a scientific and technological innovation center with national influence, promote high-quality development through openness in data, finance, and transportation, and perform well in urban planning to construct a smart city with a highly desirable living environment.