Chongqing
British Chamber of Commerce South West China - Chongqing Information
Chongqing Municipality is divided into forty county-level subdivisions, consisting of nineteen districts, seventeen counties, and four autonomous counties. After Beijing and Shanghai, Chongqing is the largest of the four direct-controlled municipalities of the People's Republic of China. The boundaries of Chongqing municipality reach much farther into the city's hinterland than the boundaries of the other three provincial level municipalities (Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin), and much of its administrative area, which spans over 80,000km², is rural.
Land Area
The total area of Chongqing is 82,400km² in which 64,778 km² belong to the constructed urban area．
Climate
Chongqing has a humid subtropical climate, with the two-season monsoonal variations typical of South Asia. As one of the "Three Furnaces", Chongqing's summers are among the hottest in China, with highs of around 33 °C (91 °F) in August, in the central portions of the city. Yet even in the hottest weather the wind is often cool, making such high temperatures more bearable.
Winters are fairly mild, but damp and overcast; average January highs are 9.5 °C (49.1 °F). Its location in the Sichuan Basin causes Chongqing to have one of the lowest sunshine totals annually in China.
Due to its focus on heavy industrial operations, Chongqing is perennially ranked on the most polluted cities in the world including the World Bank's list of most polluted cities.
Transportation
River port
Chongqing is the biggest inland river port in western China. Historically, most of its transportation, especially to eastern China, is via the Yangtze River.
Railways
Chongqing is a major rail hub in south central China.
Chongqing-Chengdu (Sichuan province) railway
Chongqing-Guiyang (Guizhou province) railway
Chongqing-Xiangfan (Hubei province) railway
Chongqing-Huaihua (Hunan province) railway
Chongqing-Suining (Sichuan province) express railway
Chongqing-Lichuan Railway (Yuli Railway), providing access to the Yichang-Wanzhou Railway in Hubei (under construction)
Chongqing-Lanzhou (Gansu province) railway (under construction)
Highways
Chongqing-Chengdu highway
Chongqing-Wanzhou-Yichang highway (Wanzhou-Yichang section under construction)
Chongqing-Guiyang highway
Chongqing-Dazhou-Xi'a highway (Dazhou-Xi'an section under construction)
Chongqing-Suining highway
Chongqing-Nanchong Expressway
China National Highway 210
China National Highway 212
Airport
Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, located in Yubei district, north of Chongqing, provides links to most parts of China and to other countries. In year 2007, a total of 10,355,730 person-time transporting volume was reported, which ranks this airport as the 10th largest one in China and the third largest one in southwest China
Economic and Technological Development Zones
The city includes a number of economic and technological development zones:
Chongqing Chemical Industrial Park
Chongqing Economic & Technological Development Zone
Chongqing Hi-Tech Industry Development Zone
Chongqing New North Zone (CNNZ)
Chongqing Export Processing Zone
Jianqiao Industrial Park (located in Dadukou District)
Economy
Chongqing is a booming city. It has the third fastest economic growth of all Chinese cities. However, Chongqing's overall economic performance is still lagging behind eastern cities such as Shanghai. For instance in 2007, the nominal GDP of Chongqing was only 411.18 billion RMB (US$58.7 billion) - about 1.65% of total national product, although it registers a year-on-year growth of 15.3%. Its per capita GDP too was relatively low at 14,339 RMB
(US$2,050) - below the national average.
Nevertheless, Chongqing is a city that is full of promise and ambition. In the near future, it plans to transform itself into the financial centre of western and central China. By doing so, it will become the beachhead for the development of the western part of the country - emulating a "Chinese Chicago" by opening up the country's interior to further investment and industrialization.
