00:07It's the world's biggest city, the home of Sichuan Hot Pot and southwest China's manufacturing powerhouse.
00:15As our special series on Chinese cities continues, we take you inside the metropolis of Chongqing.
00:21CGTN's Siobhan McCall reports.
00:24We are taking you on a journey across China to visit some of the most fascinating, but for many people
00:29around the world, unknown cities that are becoming new economic engines.
00:34Let's take a look.
00:36In the first two episodes, we were in eastern China to explore manufacturing powerhouse Suzhou, an entrepreneurial hotspot Wenzhou.
00:44Now we'll head 1,700 kilometers from Wenzhou to the southwestern city Chongqing.
00:50Well, Chongqing is one of China's four municipalities, along with Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.
00:57That means it is directly controlled by the national government rather than a province.
01:02More than 30 million people live there, making it one of the most populous administrative regions in the world.
01:09And it covers 82,000 square kilometers, a similar size to the European country Austria.
01:17All about Chongqing's economy.
01:19It's one of the largest economic regions in China, with last year's GDP exceeding 3.3 trillion yuan, or $490
01:29billion.
01:30It's a major center for heavy industry and vehicle production, in particular EVs.
01:36Key companies include car manufacturer Changgang.
01:39And one in three laptops manufactured worldwide are made in Chongqing.
01:44The city is known for its spicy hotpot, with many people trying and often failing to conquer the intense heat.
01:53It's also been called a cyberpunk city with a mountainous terrain, multi-level cityscape, and trains that pass through a
02:01residential block like this one here.
02:03And it's a key international logistics hub under the Belt and Road Initiative.
02:08A freight route links Chongqing with Duisburg in Germany.
02:12Well, look beyond the aesthetics, and you'll see the engine of southwest China, as our correspondent Wang Tianyu reports from
02:19Chongqing.
02:21Chongqing is far more than its mountain city name.
02:24It's a mega cluster that's redefining inland growth.
02:28So how exactly does it connect to the world?
02:30Chongqing serves as the strategic hub for the new international land-sea trade corridor, a massive logistics artery connecting western
02:39China to southeast Asia, Europe, and beyond.
02:42Last year, the corridor's rail-sea cargo volume surged by over 45 percent, handling 1.4 million TEUs.
02:50This isn't just about transport.
02:52It's about turning the inland city into a global gateway.
02:56But there's more.
02:58Chongqing is now China's auto capital 2.0.
03:01It's not just about making cars and motorcycles.
03:04It's about intelligence.
03:06The investment in industrial AI is soaring here.
03:09They are building the future of smart EVs.
03:12So looking at these two rivers meet, you see the synergy of traditional industries meeting new quality productive forces.
03:20It's navigating the complexities of global trade and tech decoupling by doubling down on openness and digitalization.
03:29Wang Tianyu, CGTN, Chongqing.
03:31Well, Chongyu is professor and founding director of the Surrey Centre for Innovation and Commercialization at Surrey University.
03:38He was born and educated in Chongqing.
03:41Professor Chong, thank you for speaking to me.
03:43You are from Chongqing.
03:44What do you think makes it a special and unique city?
03:48Yeah, Chongqing is a very, very unique city because it is the largest city in the world and also has
03:57the most population of all the cities in the world.
04:01And it has a very rich history and also has a very good and comprehensive economy.
04:10And it creates a huge impact not only to the region but also to the country.
04:16Now it's creating impact globally.
04:20So it's a city that is based in the upper stream of Yangtze River and actually it's a big mountain.
04:30So all this makes Chongqing a very unique city.
04:34The city's GDP grew by over 5% last year.
04:39What were the key drivers behind this?
04:41Yeah, the 5% GDP growth is very, very important.
04:46As you know, actually, the world's GDP growth is not that much.
04:54Chongqing has its very unique position.
04:57And every time I came back to Chongqing, I can see that many, many tourists and many people really like
05:07the city.
05:08They like the views, like the culture, like the food.
05:11So that makes the tourism economy become very good.
05:17Of course, Chongqing is very famous for its manufacturing.
05:22And it's the manufacturing base for many electronic devices, many components.
05:28And also it's the home of many e-vehicle cars, you know.
05:33So all this makes the GDP growth.
05:36It's very strong, robust and also very sustainable.
05:42What is it about the city and its geography that makes it such an important global logistics hub?
05:50Yeah, Chongqing is a really a role model for many cities, many inland cities in the world.
05:58It's sitting in the very middle of China, as you can see from China's map.
06:03It's in the very middle, but it makes good use of the Yangtze River and creates a logistics, important logistic
06:12system in China.
06:15And also it leverages railway system.
06:20So actually you can transport the cargoes from Chongqing to Europe.
06:26The next goal is for Chongqing to reach a GDP of four trillion yuan by 2030.
06:32How can they achieve this?
06:34Well, I think Chongqing have all the hardware base, all the manufacturing and all the technologies, all the universities.
06:46All this makes Chongqing a very big city in the world, a huge potential for Chongqing to become a powerful
06:57city globally.
06:58I think by 2030, Chongqing will have a lot of potential to grow from economic side.
07:09And I think that Chongqing and the policy supporting bringing more innovative talent and this talent will create a big
07:20impact to the local economy.
07:24And in the next episode of China's cities, we'll be heading south to Dongguan, a place that has been called
07:29one of the most globally influential cities that most people outside of the manufacturing world haven't heard of.
07:36Back to you.
07:36Back to you.
07:36Back to you.
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