Go West (or East)!

Chongqing boasts 32 million inhabitants. No, I have not missed a comma in the figure; you’re indeed reading thirty-two million. It is often called “the largest city in the world”, which is actually wrong because it is a municipality (that separated from Sichuan province in 1997) with a territory’s size as big as Austria. It is a must see in China if you want to understand what’s going on in Western China and - I would argue - in this country.

On our way to Chongqing's central business district

“Go West” program
Chongqing is emerging as a major industrial hub, partly due to the “Go West” incentive schemes that the Chinese government has been implementing already for several years. Chongqing GDP grows at 17% per year and Foreign Direct Investment was multiplied by four from 2007 to 2009. 

The goal of this policy, which includes among others tax incentives combined with very large infrastructure investment programs, is to open the inland and reduce regional inequalities with the richer regions of eastern China, that have been boosted in the past by export industries. 

Larger factories push for improved infrastructure
This trend has triggered the relocation of large factories to places like Chongqing, where it is easier to recruit and retain cheaper labor force. These factories can serve the domestic markets as well as export markets, thanks to massive improvement in infrastructure that have been achieved, notably regarding transportation. Chongqing is not only an important hub to reach the western regions of China but also as a starting point for infrastructure network linking with central Asia, Russia, Europe and southeast Asia. 

Starting with airborne transportation; before arriving to Chongqing’s brand new massive airport, I chatted with a Californian pilot on his semi-monthly trip to Chongqing where he flies US freight aircraft back to the US. 

Continuing with boats, Chongqing’s port has become China’s biggest inland river port. Because of the Three Gorge Dam that I also visited on this trip (more about it in a future blog posting) the traffic on the Yangtze River has intensified and ocean-going ships can now reach Chongqing from Shanghai.

Roads and railway transportation have also been developed a lot. For instance a cargo train service to the German city of Duisberg has been recently launched, the first train carrying laptops and LCD screens left Chongqing at the end of June. The 13-day trip means significant time and cost savings compared to the sea trade routes from Shenzhen or Shanghai.

Here Chongqing municipality is planning its newest financial center, reminding us of Shanghai's Luijiazui

Chongqing is evolving – Go East and discover the growth
The new hub Chongqing is evolving and becoming a major production center of electronics; we were told that HP is today the largest tax-payer. In the first 5 months of 2011 Chongqing factories exported 2.4 million laptops. There are also ambitious plans to develop the city as a financial center, with a project in JiangBei district that reminds very much of Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai. 

Next spring, Finnair, as the first European carrier to do so, will open a direct route with an Airbus A340 aircraft four times a week between Helsinki and Chongqing. It will take 8.5 hours. Go East! You might want to wait for the autumn or winter though- summers in Chongqing are extremely hot. And ask me which restaurant to go to and eat an excellent hot pot!