China's Chongqing makes strides in high-quality development

Photo taken on July 3 shows the picturesque pastoral scenery in Dianjiang County of Chongqing. The county has furthered rural revitalization, implemented the "Millennium Fertile Land" project, and made substantial progress in improving and upgrading rural living environment, and building ecologically livable countryside. [Photo/VCG]

Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has made new advances in promoting high-quality development and creating high-quality life over the past decade, said a press briefing held on August 17.

In the past 10 years, Chongqing has continuously cultivated new growth drivers and expanded new space for development. Its gross domestic product (GDP) more than doubled from 1.16 trillion yuan (about 171 billion U.S. dollars) in 2012 to 2.79 trillion yuan in 2021.

Driven by the innovation strategy, the municipality is building itself into a smart manufacturing heartland and a renowned smart city, said Chongqing mayor Hu Henghua.

Chongqing also seeks to build itself into a national influential science and technology innovation center, said Hu. The city has 5,109 hightech companies, and the digital economy contributes 27.2% of its GDP.

The municipality has promoted high-quality development with high-level opening-up policies, including the China-Europe freight train service, the China-Singapore connectivity initiative, and the Chongqing pilot free trade zone.

The China-Europe freight trains operated by the China-Europe Railway Express (Chongqing) have made over 10,000 trips, and the city's foreign trade exceeded 800 billion yuan last year.

By promoting the coordinated development of urban and rural areas, local authorities have lifted over 1.9 million rural residents out of poverty and made the countryside more livable.

Located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Chongqing has continuously built itself into a significant ecological barrier. The city's forest coverage rate has reached 54.5%, and the water in the Chongqing section of the Yangtze River mainstream is generally of good quality. 

China's Sichuan makes headway in high-quality development

Aerial photo taken on March 9 shows Lianghekou hydropower plant on the Yarlung River in Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze (Ganzi), Sichuan Province. With the last 500,000-kW power generation unit officially putting into use, the mega hydropower plant built at an average altitude of 3,000 meters, the highest one of its kind in China, goes fully operational on March 18. [Photo/visual.people.cn]

Southwest China's Sichuan Province has advanced high-quality development over the past decade, provincial officials have said at a press briefing.

The province's gross domestic product rose from 2.39 trillion yuan (about 351 billion dollars) in 2012 to 5.38 trillion yuan in 2021.

Sichuan has been transforming itself into a hub of science and technology and a center for innovation factors, according to Wang Xiaohui, secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

In 2021, the number of high-tech enterprises in the province exceeded 10,000, which is 7.4 times the number in 2012, said Wang. The main business revenue of companies in the hightech industry in 2021 reached 2.3 trillion yuan, which was 2.8 times that of 2012.

In the past 10 years, Sichuan has seen wider opening-up. China-Europe freight trains connect Sichuan with 75 overseas cities and the number of air routes increased to 131. The province has attracted more than 5,200 foreign-funded companies.

Wang said that the province had lifted 6.25 million people out of poverty. The average life expectancy in the province increased from 75.2 years in 2012 to 77.9 years in 2021.

Huang Qiang, governor of Sichuan, said the province now has better water and air quality, with forest coverage rate reaching over 40%, up 5 percentage points from 10 years ago.