Chongqing sets GDP growth target at over 6 percent

China”s southwestern industrial powerhouse, Chongqing, has set the GDP growth target at over 6 percent for 2023, according to the annual session of the municipal people’s congress, which was opened on Friday.

In the past five years, Chongqing’s GDP registered an average annual GDP increase of around 5.3 percent to exceed an estimated 2.9 trillion yuan ($430.96 billion) in 2022, said the city’s mayor Hu Henghua, who delivered the municipal government’s work report at the Chongqing Municipal People’s Congress.

He said by 2027, the GDP of Chongqing will surpass 4 trillion yuan, and its per capita GDP will reach 120,000 yuan.

The city is aiming to build a modern industrial system, including two trillion-level industrial clusters with internet-connection, new energy vehicles and electronic information manufacturing. The added values of the city’s manufacturing and digital economy sectors will reach 28 percent and surpass 50 percent, respectively.

The work report stresses that, to cultivate an open economy, Chongqing will strive to increase the volume and value of goods via the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor by more than 15 percent annually. The total import and export in the city will reach 1.1 trillion yuan, and the actual use of FDI in the city is expected to be at the top in western China.

It says in the science and education sectors, the city will increase the whole society’s research and development investment to more than 10 percent, and the R&D investment intensity will exceed the country’s average.

The city’s urbanization rate is expected to reach 75 percent and its internationalization level will be upgraded.

The work report notes Chongqing has made ecological progress, with the number of days boasting good air quality remaining 338 per year and the water quality of the Yangtze River’s main streams remaining at level II.