Chengdu
British Chamber of Commerce South West China - Introduction to Chengdu
Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province and a sub-provincial city. It lies in the southwest of China, the middle of the Chengdu Plain 103°-104°East (longitude) and 30°-31°North (latitude). Chengdu is also one of the most important economic centers and transportation and communication hubs in Southwestern China. According to the 2007 Public Appraisal for the Best Chinese cities for Investment, Chengdu was chosen as one of the top ten to invest in, out of a total 280．
Land Area
The total area of Chengdu is 124,000 square kilometers in which 228 square kilometers belong to the constructed urban area．
Climate
The subtropical monsoon climate influenced by the Sichuan Basin brings the annual average temperature in Chengdu to about 16 C (61 F) that is neither too cold in winter nor too hot in summer. The average rainfall in Chengdu is 945.6 mm
Transportation
Chengdu's transportation network is well developed, and it is the start of many national highways.
Aviation Hub: Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport where there are 12 international passenger traffic routes and plans to create an aviation network that covers all the key cities around the world.
Traffic of airport：Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is the busiest airport in Western China and the 5th busiest airport nationwide in terms of passenger traffic, and its passenger capacity ranks the 57th from 1671 airports in the world and the freight traffic ranks the 50th. Another airport is under construction and will be an international regional aviation hub with a total passenger capacity of 99 million.
Railway Hub: Chengdu has a rail link, which means transport to the neighboring provincial capital such as Guiyang and Chongqing can be completed in only 2 hours, only four hours to Xi’an, Wuhan and Lanzhou and eight-hours to Beijing, Tianjin, Chu Chiang Delta, the Yangtze River Delta and Pohai. In order to build an international railway hub, Chengdu is also opening an external rail link towards the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean creating a railway network between West Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe.
Highways
Chengdu has a twenty-hour traffic circle to Beijing, Tianjin, Chu Chiang Delta and the Yangtze River Delta. To promote the hub status of the highway network in Asia, Chengdu opened a transport link to Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia and Europe enhancing the urban outbound traffic greatly in Chengdu.
Investment
Chengdu has long been established as a national base for the electronics and IT industry. Several key national electronics R&D institutes are located in Chengdu. Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone has attracted a variety of multinationals, at least 30 Fortune 500 companies and 12,000 domestic companies, including Intel, IBM, NOKIA, Motorola, SAP, Siemens, Canon, HP, Xerox and Microsoft, as well as domestic powerhouses such as Lenovo.
Life
An article by the Los Angeles Times (2006) called Chengdu "China's party city". Chengdu outnumbers Shanghai in the number of tea houses and bars despite having less than half the population. The inhabitants have a reputation both within Sichuan and in China at large for having a laid back attitude and for knowing how to enjoy life.
