Editor's note:

Chongqing’s Liangjiang New Area is the nation's first inland economic development zone. Located just north of the Yangtze River and east of the Jialing River, the area is looking to benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative and attract more overseas investors.

During 2016, the first year of Liangjiang's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), Liangjiang has worked hard on strengthening industry and opening up. It had boosted the development of three pillar industries: automobiles, information technology and high-end equipment, and nine emerging industries, including robotics and smart devices.

  • Chongqing Jinshan E-cool opens to the public

    Chongqing Jinshan E-cool, an art zone similar to the famous 798 district in Beijing, opened to the public on Dec 8.

    The art zone features artwork on the theme of culture and tourism, and was transformed from old workshops of export processing industries in Liangjiang New Area. Various creative crafts and products including weave crafts, pottery works, paintings and local clothes works went on display on the opening day, attracting crowds of visitors to the “culture-based zone.”

  • Something good is brewing in Chongqing Liangjiang

    A cup of warm coffee is often the first thing people turn to, to wake them up on a cold winter’s morning. And soon the coffee lovers of Chongqing will have their own homemade brew to brew over.

    Chongqing municipality launched the country’s largest freeze-dried coffee production project on Nov 20, on the back of the 26th World Conference on Coffee Science which closed in Yunnan on Nov 19. The project is a huge step for Chongqing and comes following the establishing of the Chongqing Coffee Trade Center in Liangjiang New Area this June.

  • China's first 'Internet university' debuts in Liangjiang

    Thousands of IT talents and computer nerds descended on Chongqing’s Liangjiang New Area today to enroll at what has been dubbed China’s first Internet university.

    As the first Internet comprehensive education base in China, the Chongqing Internet Institute, covers an area of 159,000 square meters. It is equipped with 12 buildings designed for teaching, living and official business. Lessons focused on Internet Plus, cloud computing, the Internet of things, mobile Internet and the digital economy are given by world leading professors and lecturers.

     

  • Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe railway sees maiden journey

    The first freight train to service the Yuxinou International Railway, which runs from Chongqing to Europe via Xinjiang, completed its maiden journey in Frankfurt, Germany on Oct 14.

     The opening of the intercontinental railway marks a new mode of international freight transportation and saves as much as 20 days in travel time compared to sea freight. It also reduces the cost of transportation by 80 percent compared to air freight. Officials expect the railway to boost cross-border e-commerce, strengthen economic and trade exchanges and industrial interconnection between Asian and European countries.

     

  • Ground can breathe in Liangjiang

    Since being selected as a pilot city for the national Sponge City program in 2015, Liangjiang Yuelai New City has unveiled a slew of innovative technologies in unexpected places.

    From smart pavements that utilize natural filtration methods to prevent runoff water, to rooftop gardens that cool buildings in the heat of summer, Liangjiang is becoming safer, cleaner and smarter.Rainwater gardens have been built between roads and pavements to improve water quality retain water during heavy downpours.

  • Calling all adrenaline junkies in Chongqing Liangjiang

    Extreme sports enthusiasts in Chongqing can now get their adrenaline fix under one roof at Jihua Garden Extreme Sports Center, which opened at the Longxing Industrial Park in Liangjiang New Area, Sept 28.

    The venue includes an indoor wind tunnel to emulate skydiving, a wave machine for indoor surfing, an indoor rock climbing wall and a zip line. The center also include areas for children’s rock climbing, target golf, running and cycling tracks, and various retail shops to provide alternative activities. It will develop its supporting service system including stores and hotels to improve the overall experience of extreme sports lovers of Chongqing.

     

     

  • Liangjiang robot exhibition center opens

    The Liangjiang Robot Exhibition Center has begun a trial period, opening to the public for free in Chongqing’s Liangjiang New Area on July 29, according to Chongqing Liangjiang Robot Leasing Limited.

    Located on a 5,000-square-meter plot in Liangjiang New Area’s Shuitu High-tech Industrial Park, the exhibition center gathered 23 well-known global robot enterprises, including Kawasaki, KUKA and Jiateng. Nine exhibition halls with different highlights will draw visitors’ attention to a new world of robots.

     

     

  • Asian countries seek energy cooperation in Liangjiang New Area

    The Chongqing Liangjiang New Area opened the 2016 Asia Energy Cooperation Forum on June 27.

    Attendees included government representatives, energy company entrepreneurs from about 20 Asian countries and experts of the International Energy Agency. They analyzed the Asian energy situation and sought cooperation at the meeting. Huang Qifan, mayor of Chongqing, said that Chongqing will take advantage of “the Belt and Road Initiative” and the “Yangtze River Economic Zone" to strengthen its cooperation with foreign energy corporations.

  • Zero Tech unveils miniature 'selfie' drone

    A recently-incorporated company from Liangjiang unveiled a pocket-sized "selfie" drone at the Big Data Industry Summit in Guiyang on May 25.

    The drone, named Dobby and created by Zero Tech, is smaller than most conventional drones and can be folded. Weighing in at a mere 199 grams, the drone is equipped with a 13 million pixels camera and contains face recognition technology and a one-click sharing function. Zero Tech signed a cooperation agreement with Liangjiang administration committee in April to carry out cooperation in UAV research and development.

     

  • Pand Auto settles in Liangjiang New Area

    Pand Auto, a smart car hailing platform for new energy vehicles (NEVs), settled down at the Internet industrial park in Liangjiang New Area on May 19.

    Pand Auto is committed to promoting green traveling combining Internet tools for automobiles with smart car hailing services. It has become a leading new energy vehicle leasing platform nationwide. It plans to establish over 150 leasing service terminals in Chongqing with over 2000 NEVs within this year. Yin Mingshan, president of Lifan Holdings Co, Ltd noted that PAND is a good addition to the Liangjiang New Area Internet Industrial Park.