Chongqing - Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China on April 16 show that, after preliminary calculations, China's GDP in the first quarter of 2024 grew by 5.3% year-over-year.

Analyzing major industries, economic growth accelerated primarily due to the secondary industry, including manufacturing and supply. It outpaced overall GDP growth, increasing by 6% year-over-year, a 0.5 percentage point acceleration from previous rates.

On April 13, the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Economic and Information Technology reported that 322 new investment projects totaling 102.497 billion yuan (USD 14.155 billion) were launched, marking a 17.25% increase from last year.

One of those projects is from the manufacturing sector. In March, Hengan International Group Co., Ltd.'s third high-end household paper production project expansion was established in the Banan District at the Chongqing Digital Intelligence Industrial Park.

The project, which will invest two billion yuan, will establish four new high-end household paper production lines in Banan District. Upon completion, it targets an annual output of five billion yuan. This will make Banan District Hengan Group's largest domestic production base outside its Fujian headquarters.

Chongqing focuses on attracting investments from five types of enterprises: Fortune Global 500 companies, state-owned enterprises, publicly listed companies, industry leaders, and champions in specialized fields.

The city has 26 newly signed leading enterprise projects, 11 newly started leading enterprise projects, and 26.2 billion yuan of funds in place.

Science and technology investment

Since the start of this year, investment promotion across various districts and counties has generally displayed new trends, featuring broader investment regions and more specific investment objectives.

Earlier this month, Fuling District hosted the first quarter key project signing, start-up, and commissioning ceremony for 2024, where 40 projects were signed on-site, totaling an agreed investment of 36.725 billion yuan. Additionally, 40 projects were initiated and completed, with a collective investment of 11.07 billion yuan.

The signed projects highlight the "new quality productive forces" involving advanced materials, new energy storage, biomedicine, and other industrial fields. Several industry-leading enterprises have been located, and the main body of the investment is quite high in science and technology.

Shanghai Boxincheng Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., after examining more than ten cities, placed the glass-based chip industrialization project in the Fuling Hi-tech Zone.

The project will be divided into two phases: the construction of a glass-based semiconductor special process production line and the advanced glass packaging substrate production line, with a total investment of 3 billion yuan. The reach production can achieve an annual output value of 5.5 billion yuan.

The glass substrate is a cutting-edge material used in chip packaging. "The current semiconductor market demand is increasing. Industry competition is becoming increasingly white-hot. Enterprise-scale production can not afford to wait or be slow," said an enterprise executive.

To attract enterprises, the Fuling Hi-tech Zone has vacated more than 3,000 square meters of standard factory land when pre-contacting enterprises to ensure that the construction of projects can also be synchronized with production.

This year, the Fuling District focuses on advanced materials, modern Chinese medicine, biomedicine, and six other industrial sectors, organizing 16 industrial chains, including polyester, fiber, and composite materials. This strategic focus has attracted numerous large-scale, economically beneficial projects driving regional growth.

(Deng Yawen, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)