Chongqing aims to be a pivot in effort to boost western region's development
As the latest addition to China's Free Trade Zone project, Chongqing will focus on policy innovation to become a pivot in the country's Go-West campaign - the national effort to develop the vast western regions, home to energy and mineral resources crucial to its future growth - according to its FTZ development blueprint.
As the only municipality in western China directly under the central government, the traditional industrial hub - located at the intersection of the Belt and Road Initiative's trade route and the Yangtze River Economic Zone - has witnessed fast and steady economic growth in recent years and led the country's GDP growth rate table for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015.
In 2016, its auto and electronics industries contributed to over half of the city's industrial growth, according to the latest figures from the government.
