Chongqing - Chongqing officials laid out plans on March 7 to strengthen the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle with a focus on intelligent connected new energy vehicles (NEVs), artificial intelligence, semiconductor manufacturing, and state-backed industrial investment.
At a press briefing by the Chongqing delegation to the National People’s Congress (NPC), several deputies outlined priorities related to China's upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan. The officials said Chongqing would use the next phase to raise the development level of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, with an emphasis on manufacturing upgrades, technology development, and industrial coordination with neighboring Sichuan province.
The city view of Chongqing. (Photo/Chongqing Nan'an District)
The auto sector remains central to that strategy. Wang Zhijie, director of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, said the Chengdu-Chongqing region has become China's third-largest automobile cluster, with annual output nearing 4 million vehicles. Chongqing alone produced 2.788 million vehicles, he said, ranking first among Chinese cities.
The city view of Chengdu. (Photo/Wu Ke)
Wang said Chongqing and Sichuan aim to build a world-class cluster for intelligent connected new-energy vehicles. He said the next phase of development would cover the full supply chain, including vehicle assembly, parts, research and development, manufacturing systems, and after-sales services.
According to Wang, Chongqing will continue supporting major automakers, including Changan Automobile and SERES, while expanding the components network linked to the sector. He said the spillover industries include semiconductors, lightweight materials, and intelligent robotics.
In research, he said Chongqing and Sichuan would jointly pursue work on end-to-end autonomous driving models, automotive-grade solid-state batteries, and hydrogen fuel cell systems. He also said the city would push forward applications integrating vehicles, roads, and cloud systems, along with pilot programs for Level 3 autonomous driving access and road use.
Artificial intelligence was another repeated theme at the briefing. Xia Yong, chairman of China Mobile Communications Group Chongqing Co., Ltd., said the period of the 15th Five-Year Plan would mark a transition for AI from a growth stage to an expansion stage. He said Chongqing's AI plans would center on computing power, data, and algorithms.
Xia said China Mobile would help build a tiered computing supply system, expand domestic computing capacity and improve professional computing services. He added that Chongqing would coordinate local computing infrastructure with computing power sent from Xinjiang to Chongqing, part of a broader Chinese effort to match Western energy and computing resources with demand in other regions.
Officials also said Chongqing plans to build trusted infrastructure for data circulation and work with Sichuan on common standards and coordinated data infrastructure. Another priority is the creation of high-quality industry datasets to support large AI models and sector-specific applications. Chongqing also said it would continue promoting "AI plus manufacturing," a policy phrase referring to the use of AI tools in factory and industrial upgrading.
State-backed investment is expected to play a major role. Xie Wenhui, chairman of Chongqing Yufu Holding Group, said the company plans to invest in more than 200 projects across six sectors, including intelligent connected NEV, next-generation electronic information manufacturing, advanced materials, emerging and future industries, intelligent equipment, and biopharmaceuticals. He said the total investment would exceed 100 billion yuan (about 14.5 billion U.S. dollars), and aimed to attract more than 300 billion yuan in social capital.
Du Weidong, chairman of Chongqing Xiyong Microelectronics Industrial Park Development, said the Xiyong area recorded 261.9 billion yuan in industrial output from large enterprises and 302.1 billion yuan in foreign trade in 2025. He said the area is expanding higher-value products, including AI PCs, servers, and integrated circuits, supported by 13 semiconductor production lines and projects involving United Nova Technology, CR Micro and STMicroelectronics.
Du said the Chengdu-Chongqing region has strong industrial complementarity and room for deeper coordination, adding that state-owned platforms will help strengthen supply chains and provide full-cycle support to companies to further integrate the regional industrial ecosystem.