Chongqing - On May 22, Deloitte China unveiled the Western China Foreign Investment Confidence Index during a trade matchmaking event at the 8th Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT), offering insight into how foreign businesses view investment opportunities in western China.

The Foreign Investment and Trade Matchmaking Conference on East and West China Synergy is held during the 8th Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade on May 22, 2026. (Photo/Zheng Ran)

The report examines foreign firms’ confidence, investment priorities, and cooperation opportunities under China’s Western Development Strategy, which aims to boost growth, openness, and industrial upgrading in western China.

The report showed the index rose 4.7% in 2025 from a year earlier, reflecting improving investment conditions and growing market and industrial potential in western China, according to Deloitte China.

The report said foreign companies in western China are shifting their focus from traditional cost advantages like land and tax incentives to factors such as the business environment, industrial ecosystems, talent, technology, and supply chain resilience.

Michael Charlton, Chair of China Advisory Board, China-UK Business Development Centre, said the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle and wider western China have become increasingly important centers for growth, innovation, and global productivity. He said the release of the index demonstrates growing confidence in western China's business environment, industrial potential, talent resources, and long-term development prospects.

Michael Charlton, Chair of China Advisory Board, China-UK Business Development Centre delivered a speech. (Photo/Zheng Ran)

In the roundtable discussion that followed, speakers from professional services firms, international business organizations, and manufacturing companies discussed industrial cooperation between eastern and western China, foreign investment, and project implementation.

Criz Dai, managing director of Savills Western China, said Chongqing's advantages lie in the combined effect of "major corridors, major platforms and a major ecosystem." He said Chongqing is the only city in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River with national logistics hub functions across water, land, and air. 

To the east, the Yangtze River connects Chongqing with the Yangtze River Delta; to the west, China-Europe freight trains link the city with Eurasia; and to the south, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) connects it with Southeast Asian markets.

Dai said these links allow companies to combine lower manufacturing costs with lower overall logistics costs when serving markets along the Belt and Road.

Dai said Chongqing has built several industrial clusters worth over 100 billion yuan (about 14.7 billion U.S. dollars) each, enabling new companies to integrate into established supply chains. He added that industrial parks are also upgrading to meet the needs of sectors such as smart vehicles, biomedicine, and precision electronics, with facilities including clean rooms, wastewater treatment systems, and dual power supplies.

Dai highlighted Savills’ involvement in a 116,000-square-meter embodied intelligence industrial park in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area, where the company provides not only investment and operational services, but also support in research partnerships, finance, legal services, and access to local industrial supply chains.

China’s industrial shift goes beyond relocation

Building on Chongqing’s industrial strengths, Harry Jiang, China CEO of the China-UK Business Development Centre, said east-west industrial integration is not simply about relocating factories, but about reshaping supply chains, reallocating resources, and upgrading industries within China’s unified national market.

Jiang said British companies can engage in areas such as standards, professional services, finance, and green technology. He added that Chongqing’s growing market and the ILSTC give businesses access to both western China and overseas markets, including ASEAN, Central Asia, West Asia, and Eastern Europe.

Huang Gang, Managing Director of QingdaoTaiyo Giken Industry, said his company initially set up a Chongqing subsidiary three years ago as a customer service and warehousing site. After learning more about the city and the Chengdu-Chongqing region, the company decided to shift more research and production capacity westward.

Huang said the decision was based on Chongqing's supply of young workers, engineers, and skilled technicians; market prospects in motorcycles, automobiles, and general machinery; and its role as a platform for reaching Southeast Asian markets through the ILSTC.

Huang added that the company has expanded cooperation with firms including Chongqing Zongshen Power Machinery, ZXMOTO, and DUCAR. Huang added that Chongqing's livability has also strengthened the company's confidence in long-term development there.

Turning to standards and risk management, Gavin Kong, Head of China Market Development at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said foreign companies investing in China often need alignment with international standards, including ESG indicators, building standards, risk assessment, and project management systems.

Kong said project delays are not always caused by a lack of opportunities. In some cases, unclear standards or unassessed risks prevent investors from making final decisions. Embedding international standards into industrial parks and project platforms, he said, can reduce uncertainty for foreign investors entering western China.

(Lu Wanqing, as an intern, also contributed to the report.)