Western - CHONGQING MUNICIPALITY

Major Economic Indicators

2007

Jan - Aug 2008

Value

Growth
(%, y-o-y)

Value

Growth
(%, y-o-y)

412.3

15.6 ¹

210.5 ³

15.2 ¹

14,660

15.3 ¹

48.2

9.5 ¹

17.6 ³

5.6 ¹

189.2

20.6 ¹

108.9 ³

20.0 ¹

174.8

12.4 ¹

83.9 ³

11.7 ¹

123.4

25.1 ¹

91.2 ³

22.4 ¹

316.2

28.9

209.2

30.4

166.1

18.4

132.2

24.4

4.7

7.7

4,506.8

34.5

3,952.7

40.8

723.9

49.7

647.7

44.4

2,931.0

38.3

2,644.6

46.7

2,299.4

47.1

1,988.1

39.7

1,085.3

56.0

2,177.6

290.0

Notes: ¹ In real terms ² For all state-owned enterprises and other forms with annual sales over RMB5 million ³ First half of 2008
Sources: Chongqing Statistical Yearbook 2008, Chongqing Statistical Bureau, China Customs Statistics

General Background

Chongqing has a total area of 82,400 square kilometers. Total resident population stood at 28 million by the end of 2007.

Chongqing is the youngest but the largest autonomous municipality in China. The establishment of the Chongqing municipality in 1997 represented a major breakthrough of China's initiatives to speed up economic development in the central and western regions. The Three Gorges Project which has positive implications in areas such as tourism, relocation of residents and environment protection is expected to stimulate development of Chongqing's economy, as well as the western region as a whole.

Industries

Chongqing is one of the old industrial bases of China. It is a major automobiles, military, iron & steel and aluminum industry centre in China. Chongqing's industry is dominated by heavy industry. In 2007, heavy industry accounted for 66% of the municipality's total industry value added.

Composition of GDP (%)

2000

2007

17.8

11.7

38.9

45.9

31.9

38.1

43.3

42.4

Source: Chongqing Statistical Yearbook 2008

Output Share of Leading Industry Groups (2007)

% share of total value-added industrial output

30.6

6.3

5.7

5.1

4.4

3.7

3.3

3.3

3.2

Source: Chongqing Statistical Yearbook 2008

High-tech Development

Chongqing High-Tech Industrial Development Zone is a national high-tech development zone approved by the State Council in March 1991. By the end of 2007, there were 15,863 enterprises operating in it (up 20% from 2006), employing nearly 131 thousand persons. In 2007, value-added industrial output of the zone grew by 21% to RMB13.7 billion. The amount of utilised FDI received by the zone increased by 170% to US$82.6 million in 2007.

Tourism

There are some famous tourist spots in Chongqing, e.g. the Three Gorges, Dazu Stone Carving. In 2007, Chongqing received 762 thousand overseas tourists and 80 million local tourists, bringing foreign exchange revenue of US$382 million (up 23.8% from 2006) and RMB41 billion (up 28.6% from 2006) respectively.

Foreign Trade

The top three largest overseas markets were the US, Japan and Germany. Major exports included mechanical and electrical products, motorcycles and motor vehicles.

Japan is the leading source of imports, followed by Germany and the US. Major imports included mechanical and electrical products, motor vehicles and high-tech products.

In 2007, Chongqing exported US$123 million to Hong Kong and imported US$4 million from Hong Kong.

Foreign Investment

An increasing number of multinational companies have set up operations in Chongqing. These included Nokia, ABB, Sony Ericsson, American Standard, Rockwell, Honda, Suzuki, Isuzu, Yamaha, Mobil, China Bank Group, Hutchison Whampao, Gold Lion Group and Sam Sung, Cocacola. Reportedly, more and more existing foreign companies have committed in investment expansion in recent years.

Inflow of foreign direct investment recorded faster growth in recent years. In 2007, the utilized amount of FDI increased by 56% to US$1,085 million.

Of the total utilised FDI in Chongqing in 2007, secondary industry accounted for 31% and tertiary industry accounted for 68%. Sectors that attracted the largest share of foreign investment included manufacturing, real estate, finance and wholesale & retail.

Hong Kong was the largest source of overseas investment in Chongqing. In 2007, the utilized FDI from Hong Kong was US$536 million (+105%). By the end of 2007, the cumulative FDI from Hong Kong amounted to US$1.8 billion, or 30% of Chongqing's total utilised FDI. Other major investors came from the US, Japan and Taiwan.

Foreign investments in some sectors are being encouraged by the Chongqing government. These include infrastructures, traditional Chinese medicine, numerical machine tool, hi-tech industries, and modern services such as banking, insurance.

Consumer Market

Chongqing has a large local market with a total population of 28 million. In terms of per capita disposable income of urban residents, Chongqing reached RMB13,715 in 2007, up 18.5% from 2006. Total retail sales of consumer goods reached RMB166 billion in 2007, an increase of 18.4% from 2006.

Composition of Per Capita Expenditure of Urban Household (%)

2004

2007

37.8

37.0

9.8

12.1

5.9

6.7

6.7

7.5

10.9

11.7

15.1

13.2

11.3

9.0

Source: Chongqing Statistical Yearbook, 2005, 2008

Chongqing is a retail and wholesale center of southern and western China. The retail industry of Chongqing is very competitive, particularly with the establishment of a number of local and foreign retail enterprises including Carrefour from France, Walmart from the US, Metro from Germany, Gome from Beijing , and the two indigenous retailers -- Chongqing General Trade Group and Chongqing Department Store Co, Ltd.

<There are four major shopping areas in Chongqing, namely Jiefangbei, Chaotianmen, Shangpingba and Nan Ping. Chaotianmen market with sales exceeding RMB 10 billion is a major wholesale center in the southern and western China selling a wide range of products such as garment, plastic product and textiles.