Over two days of site visits, Arnaud Bertrand, a French entrepreneur, author, and geopolitical commentator, and Ben Norton, a U.S. journalist, analyst, and political economist, toured industrial sites and urban infrastructure across Chongqing to observe how Chinese modernization functions in practice. Their itinerary included robotics manufacturing at Sevnce Robotics, new-energy vehicle production at Changan, and waste-to-energy operations at Sanfeng Yulin, offering a close-up view of how advanced manufacturing and green transition are implemented at the city level.
Both said Chongqing’s development trajectory illustrates a productive synergy between national planning and market competition. In their assessment, planning provides strategic direction and supports long-term investment, while market forces drive scale, efficiency, and innovation.
Looking ahead, Bertrand and Norton argued that the next phase of China’s urban development will require clearer functional differentiation among cities, stronger regional coordination, and the cultivation of more distinctive, internationally recognizable city brands.