Chongqing - Officials announced Monday that Chongqing, in southwest China, has completed the full conversion of household waste into energy under the nation’s 14th Five-Year Plan, which outlines key goals for 2021–2025.
“We have worked to make this city of more than 30 million residents smarter, safer, and more livable,” said Xiao Qinghua, director of the Chongqing Municipal Urban Management Bureau.
Over the past five years, all household waste in Chongqing has now converted into electricity, generating over 3.3 billion kilowatt-hours annually and eliminating raw waste landfills. Building on this progress, the city has also raised its waste utilization rate to 86% and increased its water supply capacity by 30% compared with the previous plan.
Technical workers are installing inspection equipment for the cross-river bridge. (Photo/Chongqing Municipal Urban Management Bureau)
Digital innovation has also become a key driver of Chongqing’s urban transformation. More than 2,200 municipal and district-level departments have been integrated into a unified urban operation and management platform that enables real-time streetlights, bridges, and sanitation systems monitoring.
The city has installed smart sensors on more than 23,000 manhole covers to detect displacement or damage and send instant alerts. A mobile app called “Yucheng Bianmin” helps residents locate about 10,000 parking lots, 7,000 public toilets, 1,900 parks, and 700 drinking water points, improving access to public services.
To enhance safety, Chongqing launched a digital management program for lifeline infrastructure, including water, power, gas, telecommunications, bridges, tunnels, and railways. Nearly 70 percent of these systems are now digitally managed, allowing real-time risk detection and rapid response.
Since 2005, Chongqing has been known as China’s “bridge capital.” It has built more than 20,000 bridges of various sizes, including 105 major spans over the Yangtze and Jialing rivers.
The city has also installed more than 255,000 LED streetlights, cutting electricity use by about 200 million kilowatt-hours a year. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, it added 72.73 million square meters of green space and 563 kilometers of greenways.