Chengdu and Economic Trends
Chengdu, located in Southwest China, is the capital of Sichuan Province. It has developed into a metropolis with a total registered population of 16 million in 2020, which live in its 5 urban districts, 7 sub-urban districts and 8 counties, covering a total area of 12,390 km2.
Chengdu is located in the western part of the Sichuan Basin and the eastern edge of the Qinghai- Tibet Plateau. It is adjacent to Deyang City in the northeast, Ziyang City in the southeast, Meishan City in the south, Ya'an City in the southwest, and Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in the northwest. There are several mountain ranges in the province, such as Qingcheng Mountain and the Jiufeng Mountai, and the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.
Its economy is diverse, characterized by the machinery, automobile, medicine, food, and information technology industries. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, a hub of Air China and Sichuan Airlines, is one of the 30 busiest airports in the world, and the Chengdu railway station is one of the six biggest in China. Chengdu also hosts many international companies: more than 270 Fortune 500 companies have established branches in Chengdu.
Chengdu is the primary railway hub city and rail administrative center in southwestern China. The Chengdu–Dujiangyan high-speed railway connects Chengdu with the satellite city of Dujiangyan and the Mountain Qingcheng World Heritage Site. In 2020 4,317 international trains were launched, an increase of 35.5% over the previous year.
In the surrounding area of Chengdu, there are two world heritages, one being the world cultural and natural heritage Emei Mountain-Leshan Giant Buddha and the other world natural heritages Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong. Chengdu is benchmarked as the city investment environment in Chinese inland and granted with the title of the first “Gastronomy City of the World”, “the Best Tourism City of China” by the World Bank, UNESCO and UNWTO.
In 2020, Chengdu’s GDP reached 1,771 billion RMB with an increase of 4% compared to the previous year. The per capita disposable income of urban residents was 48,593 RMB, an increase of 5.9% over the previous year.
The total amount of foreign trade imports and exports in the year was 715 billion yuan, an increase of 22.4% over the previous year. Among them, the total export value was 410 billion yuan, an increase of 23.7%; the total import value was 305 billion yuan, an increase of 20.7%.
The “Belt and Road” economic and trade cooperation continued to deepen, and the total import and export volume to countries along the “Belt and Road” reached 223 billion yuan, an increase of 29.9%, accounting for 31.1% of the city’s total import and export volume.
Main Sectors in Chengdu:
Electronics and IT industries
Financial industry
Modern logistic industry
Software and service outsourcing industry
Main Industrial Areas in Chengdu:
Chengdu High-tech Industrial Development Zone
Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone
Sichuan Tianfu New District Chengdu Direct Management District
Chengdu Eastern New Area
Chengdu Area of China (Sichuan) Pilot Free Trade Zone
Chengdu Area of China (Sichuan) Pilot Free Trade Zone is a regional free trade zone officially established on April 1st 2017. It covers a total area of 100 km2 and consists of two areas, Tianfu New Area and Chengdu Qingbaijiang Railway Port Area. The Chengdu Tianfu New Area area focuses on the development of modern service industry, high-end manufacturing, high-tech, airport economy, port services and other industries. Chengdu Qingbaijiang Railway Port Area focuses on the development of international commodity distribution and transshipment, distribution and display, bonded logistics warehousing, international freight forwarding.