W. China more popular among investors

China's western region has attracted greater investment from home and abroad, as it intensifies efforts to boost high-quality development and high-standard opening-up.

The ongoing Sixth Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT), which began in Chongqing on Thursday, has witnessed the signing of 196 projects — including 124 manufacturing projects totaling 198.85 billion yuan ($27.45 billion) and 58 modern service industry ones totaling 88.42 billion yuan.

The fair — themed "New Western China, New Manufacturing, New Services" — aims to enhance cooperation and opening-up efforts in western China. It highlights modern productive services this year. Belarus is the guest country of honor, and Sichuan is the guest province. The event will run until Sunday.

"Investment enthusiasm to this region continues to rise," Chongqing Economic and Information Commission said in a news release.

"Amid the current sluggish global economic recovery, the investment environment in our city has garnered favor from both domestic and international enterprises. Our investment policies have been praised, leading to a growing willingness among companies to invest in Chongqing."

Last year, Chongqing's GDP reached a record 3 trillion yuan ($423 billion), up 6.1 percent year-on-year. It is the first city in western China to achieve a GDP that high.

In the first quarter, it has achieved 6.2 percent GDP growth, ranked first in the western region and second in China.

Compared to last year, the fair has seen steady growth in the number and scale of the projects, with 89 projects valued between 1 billion and 5 billion yuan, 12 projects valued between 5 billion and 10 billion yuan, and 4 projects valued over 10 billion yuan.

The investments are mainly from Guangdong, Sichuan, Jiangsu provinces and Beijing, including four Fortune 500 companies.

Overseas investors have also shown interest in the region as 12 foreign-funded projects with a total contracted value of 26.72 billion yuan were signed at the event.

Chongqing, located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, boasts key geographic advantages as a strategic pivot point in the national development programs for China's western regions and the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle. It also is a connecting point for the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

"The role of Sichuan and Chongqing as a driving force of the high-quality development in the western region is becoming increasingly evident," said Zuo Yongxiang, vice-governor of Sichuan province, at the fair's opening ceremony.

Last year, the economic scale of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle reached 8.19 trillion yuan, contributing 6.5 percent of the national economy with only 2 percent of the country's land area. The area has established three national advanced manufacturing clusters and four national strategic emerging industry clusters.

Zuo noted that the total scale of the electronic information manufacturing industry in the area has exceeded 1.6 trillion yuan and will become a world-class cluster.

As the guest country of honor at the fair, Belarus highlighted the Great Stone Industrial Park at its pavilion. Located in the capital city of Minsk, it is the largest industrial park established by China overseas.

"At this WCIFIT event, we are going to showcase the cooperation potential of Belarus across various fields to the fullest extent," said Alexander Turchin, chairman of the executive committee, Minsk Region of Belarus, while delivering a speech.

Belarus was one of the first countries to involve itself in the Belt and Road Initiative. In June 2018, Chongqing launched a direct China-Europe Railway Express route to Minsk. By the end of 2023, direct train service between Chongqing and Belarus had operated a total of 756 round trips, transporting nearly 70,000 TEUs of cargo, with a total cargo value of nearly 10.8 billion yuan.

"Chongqing is a benchmark city that exemplifies China's modernization," said Sunny Chai Ngai Chiu, chairman of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp and Federation of Hong Kong Industries, at the event's opening ceremony.

He said in the process of technological innovation, both Chongqing and Hong Kong have their unique strengths. Chongqing boasts strong foundational industries and a deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, which has fostered the development of several high-quality foundational industries. Meanwhile, Hong Kong excels in basic research and innovative studies.