Chongqing - Since 2020, the Chengdu–Chongqing region in southwest China has accelerated collaborative innovation, more than doubling its overall performance in four years as the two cities strengthen coordination in technology, industry, and research.

The region’s collaborative innovation index reached 202.29 in 2024, up from a baseline of 100 in 2020, translating into an average annual growth rate of 19.3 percent, according to the 2025 Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Circle Collaborative Innovation Index released on December 30.

The effect picture of Chengdu Science and Technology Ecological Island. (Photo/ Chengdu Science and Technology Ecological Island)

Gains were recorded across all five core indicators measuring cooperation between the neighbouring megacities, including resource agglomeration, innovation collaboration, results sharing, industrial linkage, and environmental support.

Among the five indicators, innovation cooperation showed the strongest momentum. In 2024, it rose 209.78 percent compared with 2020, posting an average annual growth rate of 32.67 percent. Environmental support ranked second, nearly doubling over the same period, followed by industrial linkages, which expanded by 80.87 percent.

The report also highlights several cases from 2024 that illustrate how policy coordination and market forces are converging to drive innovation on the ground.

One standout example is the approval of the Chengdu–Chongqing biopharmaceutical cluster as a national advanced manufacturing cluster. Anchored by the Chongqing International Institute for Immunology, the two regions have jointly built a full innovation chain spanning basic research, incubation, and clinical trials.

Cooperation has also extended along the industrial chain. Sichuan and Chongqing have jointly developed a bulk pharmaceutical ingredient production base in Yuechi, Sichuan, helping companies settle locally while forging stronger upstream and downstream partnerships. In parallel, a series of technology transfer platforms backed by leading universities and enterprises has further strengthened professional services for drug development and commercialisation.

New energy vehicles offer another window into the region’s deepening industrial synergy. Chongqing-based automaker Seres has used digital technologies to reconfigure its supply chain and production ecosystem. Through its Phoenix factory, the company has introduced new supply-chain models and coordinated joint innovation with suppliers across Sichuan and Chongqing, upgrading the entire value chain from materials research to final vehicle assembly.

In 2024, components supplied by Sichuan-based firms to Seres reached about 18.4 billion yuan (approximately 2.6 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of roughly 350 percent. This expansion has enhanced the competitiveness of Chongqing-made intelligent electric vehicles, attracted more high-quality firms into the regional supply network, and reinforced industrial clustering within the Chengdu–Chongqing economic circle.

First published in 2021, the Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Circle Collaborative Innovation Index has become a key barometer of cross-regional innovation. Compiled annually, it has drawn close attention from government agencies, research institutions, and media outlets in both cities, as policymakers seek to turn the twin-city region into a nationally influential science and technology hub.

In January 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping personally planned, launched, and advanced the development of the Chengdu–Chongqing economic circle, marking the formal start of a major regional integration initiative.

Since then, China’s regional economic map has taken clearer shape, with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in the north, the Yangtze River Delta in the east, the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in the south, and the Chengdu–Chongqing cluster anchoring the west.

Over the past six years, Sichuan and Chongqing have advanced the strategy in line with their designated role as “two national centers and two strategic hubs,” while steadily promoting the construction of “three functional centers and one economic corridor.” The effort has progressed from foundational capacity-building to targeted breakthroughs, accelerating from early momentum to large-scale implementation.

The results have been substantial. Combined regional gross domestic product rose from 6.99 trillion yuan in 2019 to 9.68 trillion yuan in 2024. Output is projected to exceed 10 trillion yuan in 2025, representing an increase of four trillion-yuan increments within six years, underscoring the region’s growing weight in China’s economy.