Chongqing - Chongqing’s private economy is expanding quickly, with its share of GDP expected to rise from 59% in 2021 to 61.6% by 2025. The added economic value is projected to grow from 1.48 trillion yuan (about 208 billion U.S. dollars) to 1.98 trillion yuan, according to recent city data.
In China, private capital refers to individual businesses, private enterprises, and foreign-invested companies, aside from state-owned or state-controlled capital. A representative from the Chongqing Municipal Development and Reform Commission said the city’s booming private economy is largely driven by private investors’ active participation in major projects.
Major investment projects are large-scale initiatives that promote industrial upgrades and improve public well-being, such as transportation, energy, and digital infrastructure. In Chongqing, the number of such privately funded projects is expected to rise by about 30% by 2025 compared with 2021, with total investment projected to exceed 400 billion yuan—a 50% increase from 2021.
The rapid growth of private capital in Chongqing is linked to favorable policy support. As early as 2023, Chongqing introduced policies to open up nine key sectors, including transportation, water conservancy, and energy, to private investment, offering extensive opportunities for private capital.
In March 2025, the city further deepened its policies, emphasizing continued efforts to stimulate private investment and promote innovative public-private partnerships in infrastructure, environmental protection, and toll road projects.
In addition to policy support, Chongqing has also provided strong guarantees in terms of funding and land resources, creating favorable conditions for private investment. Since 2024, the city has allocated more than 2.5 billion yuan in special government bonds for private enterprises, providing substantial financial support for private capital investment.
Government services have been vital in attracting private capital for major projects. For instance, Chongqing Anrui Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. faced challenges with aging production lines. Wang Jinhua, its general manager, explained that upgrading was difficult due to long renovation times and the need to maintain operations. However, local government quickly intervened, providing temporary space and fast-tracking approval for a new production line, improving efficiency.
Between 2021 and 2025, the focus of private investment in Chongqing has shifted. Private capital in infrastructure projects has grown significantly, with its contribution to infrastructure construction up by 33.4% in 2024.
An example of this is the Chongqing Banan Tenglong 5G Data Center project, which is the largest single data center in western China. The project, with a total investment of 10 billion yuan, has received over 6 billion yuan from GLP, a global thematic investor and business builder.
Private capital in Chongqing increasingly focuses on emerging industries. In 2024, industrial investment grew by 17%, with over 40% directed toward sectors like new energy vehicles and biomedicine. Investments in low-carbon projects, such as clean energy and zero-carbon parks, have also surged, signaling a major shift in the city's private capital landscape, according to the representative.