Chongqing - On April 15, the 2026 “Opportunity Chongqing” news conference series kicked off with a focus on forestry, as officials unveiled over 230 investment projects worth more than 74 billion yuan (about 10.3 billion U.S. dollars) and invited global investors to tap into the city’s growing green economy.
“Chongqing forestry has the real hard power needed to attract investment,” said Cao Chunhua, director of the Chongqing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau and director of the Chongqing Forestry Bureau, at the press conference.
He added that Chongqing has 63.22 million acres of forest land under management, with a further 5.24 million acres available for expansion, while forest coverage exceeds 55% and total forest stock has reached 290 million cubic meters.
The city has built a 6.27 million-acre under-forest economy, supported by six national demonstration counties and mature models spanning forest fungi, medicinal herbs, and poultry, while its 4.5 million acres of bamboo forests underpin high-value processing industries and selected priority species—including nanmu and five bamboo varieties—are set to expand to over 1 million acres.
Given its diverse resources, Chongqing has adopted a tailored approach by dividing its forestry sector into six key “growth tracks,” with the main urban area focusing on advanced wood and bamboo processing and a nanmu industry cluster, northeastern Chongqing developing national reserve and specialty economic forests, and the southeastern region prioritizing under-forest industries and nature education, each aligned with local strengths.
The city launched more than 230 investment projects worth over 74 billion yuan (about 10.3 billion U.S. dollars), spanning the full industrial chain from raw production to processing and services.
Officials said the projects stand out for aligning with national policies such as forestry-rights reform, boosting rural incomes through models like “company + cooperative + farmer,” and delivering both ecological and economic returns, while also targeting gaps in existing industrial chains; examples include Zhongxian’s “bamboo replacing plastic” industrial park and Wanzhou’s Dayakou homestay development.
Full support package for investors
To ensure companies can invest, stay, and grow, Chongqing has introduced a full-service support package combining policy support, digital platforms, and industry events.
As a national pilot for forestry-rights reform, it has built a financing system covering equity, loans, bonds, and insurance, set up nine forestry banking branches, launched products linked to forest, tree, and carbon trading, and eased logging rules to give operators more flexibility.
Digital services are also being upgraded, with the “Digital Forest Rights” app on the Yukuaiban platform offering an investment map for project display, policy matching, and full-process tracking, allowing businesses to scan a code and access opportunities instead of searching across offices.
From June 16 to 18, Chongqing’s Bishan District will host a forestry industry matchmaking event under the theme “Thousands of Enterprises Visit Chongqing,” with more than 400 representatives from companies and financial institutions expected to attend.
“Chongqing forestry has a strong foundation, vast space, strong policies, and practical services. This is the right time to invest,” Cao said. He invites domestic and foreign companies and calls for turning ecological strengths into development gains to achieve a win-win of environmental, industrial, and community prosperity.
(Luo Yilin, as an intern, also contributed to the report.)