Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle makes headways with industrial clusters

The Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, hailed as China's "fourth pole of economic growth", has achieved notable progress in fostering world-class industrial clusters through coordinated efforts to establish a modern industrial system within the region, National People's Congress deputies said.

Initiated in January 2020, the economic circle is a key regional development strategy, following in the footsteps of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It encompasses the most part of Chongqing municipality and 15 cities in Sichuan province, covering an area of 185,000 square kilometers.

Liao Wenbin, a National People's Congress deputy and mayor of Yibin, Sichuan, highlighted in a written interview with China Daily that Sichuan and Chongqing have jointly built China's third-largest automotive industry cluster.

Targeting a world-class intelligent connected new energy vehicle industry cluster, the two sides have strengthened industrial collaboration and fostered the industrial ecosystem, with the cumulative production of NEVs from 2021 to 2024 reaching 2.38 million units, at an average annual growth rate of 70.47 percent, he said.

"The rapid growth of the NEV industry in the region has brought significant opportunities for Yibin's power battery sector," Liao said, noting that the output value of its power battery industry surged from less than 2 billion yuan ($276 million) in 2020 to 105.8 billion yuan last year.

Backed by key players in the power battery sector, including Sichuan Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited, power battery giant CATL's subsidiary in Yibin, the city has secured orders from NEV producers in Chongqing and Chengdu to become a pivotal hub in the region's NEV supply chain, he said.

By the end of last year, Yibin's power battery production capacity reached 180 GWh, with an actual output of 128.3 GWh, accounting for over 16 percent of the national total, he added.

In the field of electronic information, Sichuan and Chongqing have accelerated efforts to strengthen and complement their industrial chains in integrated circuits, new displays and smart devices, transforming the Chengdu-Chongqing region into one of the world's top 10 electronic information manufacturing hubs.

Statistics from local governments show that the region produces two-thirds of the world's iPads, nearly 80 million laptops and more than 100 million smartphones annually.

Zhong Bo, a National People's Congress deputy and chairman of XGIMI Technology, a new display company based in the region, said that the company has become a global leader in home projector shipments.

"Joint policies by Sichuan and Chongqing to promote high-quality collaboration in the electronic information industry and supply chain cooperation in the new display sector have supported XGIMI in enhancing its industrial capabilities, promoting innovation cooperation and attracting talent," he said.

With its headquarters in Chengdu, a production base in Yibin and a global service center in the Yibin Comprehensive Bonded Zone, XGIMI also procures raw materials from suppliers in Chongqing, Zhong said.

"Amid the booming of the region's new display industry, XGIMI has significantly increased the localization rate of its supply chain to 40 percent. This has helped strengthen its market responsiveness and supply chain resilience," he said.

Zhong believes that the economic circle's diverse industrial landscape offers XGIMI rich opportunities to extend its advanced projection display technology to a broader range of sectors and application scenarios, such as in-car projection.

Local authorities said Sichuan and Chongqing have built four industrial clusters in electronic information, equipment manufacturing, advanced materials and specialty consumer goods, each generating over 1 trillion yuan in output.

They are also cultivating future industries such as artificial intelligence, low-altitude economy, commercial aerospace and nuclear technology applications.

The recently released list of key projects for the joint construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle in 2025 indicates that the collaborative development of a modern industrial system remains a key focus.

According to the list, Sichuan and Chongqing will collaboratively develop 131 modern industrial system projects this year, with a total investment of 877.72 billion yuan, with 117.36 billion yuan coming this year.

Looking ahead, Liao suggests national policies in industry, talent, land, investment and finance to support the economic circle's modern industrial system and guide its development in the national 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period.

He also proposes strengthening the two regions' innovation collaboration by establishing a joint fund, sharing platforms and large-scale research facilities and conducting joint research to tackle core technological bottlenecks.

Zhong recommends that Sichuan and Chongqing work together to create a unified intellectual property management and protection mechanism.

He also calls for the two regions to participate in setting international standards for the display industry to enhance their influence in global rule-making.