West Triangle Economic Zone 西三角经济区 | |
---|---|
Province | Chongqing (municipality) Sichuan Shaanxi |
Major Cities | Chongqing Chengdu Xi'an Nanchong Xianyang |
Government | |
• Mayor of Chongqing | Huang Qifan |
• Governor of Sichuan | Wei Hong |
• Governor of Shaanxi | Lou Qinjian |
Time zone | UTC+8 (CST) |
West Triangle Economic Zone | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Traditional Chinese | 西三角經濟圈 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 西三角经济圈 | ||||||
|
The West Triangle Economic Zone is an economic zone designated by the Chinese government comprising Chengdu,Chongqing and Xi'an. [1] Created as part of China's Western Development strategy,the West Triangle Economic Zone contributes nearly 40% of Western China's GDP. [2] Furthermore,Chongqing is one of China's five National Central Cities,while both Chengdu and Xi'an are Regional Central Cities. [3]
The economies of all three cities are highly developed and serve as attractive investment locations within China. Many major international companies have factories or branches in the region,including Microsoft,Ford Motors,Citigroup,and over 200 other Fortune 500 companies.
Overall,the zone has a population of 118 million and covers 220,000 square kilometres. Various major expressways and railways run through the zone,and each of the three cities has a major international airport.
The creation of the zone was originally proposed by Chongqing in 2009,as part of the 12th Chinese 5-year plan. Xi'an and Chengdu agreed to the proposal. [2]
In September 2009,the proposal was submitted to the National Development and Reform Commission. [2]
The creation of such an economic zone serves a larger part within the China Western Development policy. [4] It was hoped that the consolidation of three major cities into one zone would accelerate the development of other areas in Western China. [5]
Traditionally,the West of China has been weaker economically,as it promises a less lucrative return to the investors than its eastern competitors. [4] Thus,the China Western Development policy aimed to attract foreign investment. This was to be done by creating a more stable investing environment through infrastructure construction. The creation of a new economic zone would encourage cooperation between cities,which would lead to greater rates of progress. [4]
This was a success for the western development project at some level,for statistics show a substantial growth in foreign investment in the western regions. However,the rate of progress was not equal in all regions,partially due to the creation of the West Triangle Economic Zone,which sped up development in Chengdu,Chongqing,and Xi'an,but slowed down development in other areas of the West. For example,while foreign direct investment in Chongqing grew,foreign investment in other Western Chinese cities like Guizhou,Guangxi,and Ningxia declined significantly,dropping about US$19.71,$250.96 million,and $34.54 million respectively. [4]
The federal government's strategy in both the West Triangle and Western China in general is to provide large amounts of monetary investment in order to provide an industrial and infrastructure base,which would then attract foreign investment. Areas which the government has invested heavily in include infrastructure,enticement of foreign investment,ecological protection,education,and retention of talent flowing to richer provinces or foreign nations. Over RMB 1 trillion has been spent on the West as a whole. [4]
Chengdu has been officially designated China's western center of logistics, commerce, finance, science and technology, as well as a hub of transportation and communication. [6] It is also an important base for manufacturing and agriculture. [7] It is a highly economically competitive city within China; according to a Taiwanese report, Chengdu is the second most attractive city for business in China, [1] and the World Bank's 2007 survey report on global investment environments declared Chengdu "a benchmark city for investment environment in inland China". [8] Important locally based companies include Chengdu Sugar and Wine Co. Ltd., Chengdu Food Group, Sichuan Medicine Co. Ltd., Chengdu Automobile Co. Ltd. etc., which support the city's food, medicine, machinery and information technology industries. [9]
Many companies have invested in Chengdu. [10] Among the world's 500 largest companies, 133 of them have subsidiaries or branch offices in Chengdu. [10] These corporations include Intel, Cisco, Sony and Toyota that have assembly and manufacturing bases. Also, Motorola, LM Ericsson, and Microsoft have R&D centers in Chengdu. [10]
Chengdu's foremost industry is information technology, and has long been established as a national base for the electronics and the IT industry. As one of the 8 major communication hubs of China, Chengdu is the node of the nationwide fiber-optic communication network. [11]
Furthermore, Chengdu has also attracted many other major global corporations, including Citigroup, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, JPMorgan Chase and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in the banking sector. [9] It is expected that by 2012, value-added financial services will make up 14% of the added-value service industry and 7% of the regional GDP. By 2015, those figures are expected to grow to 18% and 9% respectively. [12]
Chongqing was separated from Sichuan province and made into a province-level municipality in March 1997. [13] in order to accelerate its development. It was also hoped that China's relatively poorer western areas would be further developed as well. [5]
As well as being an important industrial area in western China, [14] Chongqing is also rapidly urbanising. For instance, new construction added approximately 137,000 square meters (1.5 million square feet) daily of usable floor space to satisfy demands for residential, commercial and factory space. [15] More than 1,300 people move into the city daily, bolstering the economy by approximately 100 million Yuan. [16]
With an annual output capacity of 1.2 million automobiles, Chongqing produces 15% of China's total output. [17] Changan Automotive Corp (China's fourth largest automaker), Lifan Hongda Enterprise, and Ford Motor Company all produce automobiles in Chongqing, with the US car giant having 3 plants. [18]
The municipality is also one of the nine largest iron and steel centres in China and one of the three major aluminum producers. Important manufacturers include Chongqing Iron and Steel Company and South West Aluminum, Asia's largest aluminum plant. [19] Manufacturing industries are supported by abundant natural resources including large deposits of coal, natural gas, and more than 40 kinds of minerals such as strontium and manganese. Coal reserves amount to approximately 4.8 billion tonnes, [20] while Chuandong Natural Gas Field is China's largest inland gas field with deposits of around 270 billion m³ - more than 1/5 of China's total. [21]
Chongqing was ranked among the top ten most attractive cities to investing by a Taiwanese report, and is also one of the National Central Cities. [1]
Xi'an is the largest economy of Shaanxi province, with a GDP of 324.1 billion Yuan in 2010. [22] On average this value increases by 14.5% annually, and accounts for approximately 41.8% of Shaanxi's total GDP. [22] [23] At least fifty-eight countries have established over 2,560 enterprises in Xian, including nineteen of the Fortune 500 enterprises. These include ABB, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi and Toshiba. [24] As part of the Western Development policy, Xi’an became a major target for accelerated attention. [4] From 1997 to 2006, the industrial output value of Xi’an's service industry increased at an annual average rate of 13.74% representing a growth from US$8.113 billion to US$25.85 billion. [23]
Xi'an is also one of the first service outsourcing cities in China, with over 800 corporations in the industry. [22] The city's output value from this sector exceeded RMB 23 billion in 2008. [22] Employment in the sector doubled from 1997 to 2006, from a base of 60,000, and computer consulting also doubled from 16,000 to 32,000. [23] As a result of the importance of the software-outsourcing industry, the city planned construction of a Software New Town, which was scheduled to be completed in 2015 with an investment of 30 billion Yuan. [22] Other major export goods include lighting equipment and automobile parts, while its major import goods are mechanical and electrical products. Internationally, Xi'an's largest trade partner is the United States. [22]
Other important industries include equipment manufacturing and tourism. [25] The manufacturing industry has an annual output of 36.5 billion Yuan, accounting for 44.5% of the city's total. [22] Furthermore, as one of China's four ancient capitals, [26] Xi'an's many cultural sites, including the Terracotta Army, the City Wall of Xi'an, and the Famen Temple, make tourism an important industry as well. In 2010, 52 million domestic tourists visited Xi'an, earning a total income of RMB 40.52 billion. [22] On average, revenue increases by 36.4% per year, and foreign-exchange earnings (530 million in 2009) increase by around 35.8%. [22]
The city of Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province, and it has sub-provincial administrative status. It contains 9 districts, 4 county-level cities, and 6 counties. [27] The mayor is Ge Honglin, [28] and the CPC Committee Secretary (who is considered to be more powerful than the mayor) is Huang Xingchu. [29]
Chongqing is the principal city in Southwest China being one of China's National Central Cities and the only such city in the interior west of China. As such, in 1997, Chongqing was separated from Sichuan province and made into a province-level municipality, the fourth in China after Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai. [13] The mayor of Chongqing is Tang Liangzhi [ citation needed ] and the CPC Committee Secretary is Sun Zhengcai. [30] Chongqing Municipality contains 19 districts, 19 counties, and 1259 towns, townships, and subdistricts.
Xi'an is the capital of Shaanxi province, and it has sub-provincial administrative status. Additionally, since ancient times, when it was known as Chang'an, it served as the capital of many dynasties. [31] The mayor of Xi'an is Dong Jun, [32] and the CPC Committee Secretary is Sun Qingyun. [33]
Major airports include:
Major highways and expressways passing through the West Triangle Economic Zone include:
Stations include:
Major rail lines include:
The zone occupies 220,000 square kilometers and has a population of 118 million, contributing nearly 40% of Western China's GDP. [2]
City | Administrative Area | City Population | GDP | Annual GDP growth rate |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chengdu | 12,132 km2 | 4,266,000 [34] | RMB 813.89 billion [35] | 13% [35] |
Chongqing | 82,401 km2 | 6,690,000 [34] | RMB 1,146 billion [36] | 13.6% [36] |
Xi'an | 9983 km2 | 4,178,000 [34] | RMB 386.4 billion [37] | 24% [37] |
The figure above for Chongqing's Administrative Area includes the entire Municipality of Chongqing whereas the City Population only counts the urbanized districts making up Chongqing city. Thus the population of the administrative area shown will be significantly larger. Chengdu is similar.
Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau between the Jinsha River on the west, the Daba Mountains in the north and the Yungui Plateau to the south. Sichuan's capital city is Chengdu; its population stands at 83 million. Sichuan neighbors Qinghai to the northwest, Gansu to the north, Shaanxi to the northeast, Chongqing to the east, Guizhou to the southeast, Yunnan to the south, and Tibet to the west.
Shaanxi is an inland province in Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north, Shanxi and Henan to the east, Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south, and Gansu and Ningxia to the west. Shaanxi covers an area of over 205,000 km2 (79,151 sq mi) with about 37 million people, the 16th largest in China. Xi'an – which includes the sites of the former Chinese capitals Fenghao and Chang'an – is the provincial capital as well as the largest city in Northwest China and also one of the oldest cities in China and the oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals, being the capital for the Western Zhou, Western Han, Jin, Sui and Tang dynasties. Xianyang, which served as the Qin dynasty capital, is just north across Wei River. The other prefecture-level cities into which the province is divided are Ankang, Baoji, Hanzhong, Shangluo, Tongchuan, Weinan, Yan'an and Yulin.
Chengdu is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a population of 20,937,757 at the 2020 census, it is the fourth most populous city in China, and it is the only city with a population of over 20 million apart from direct-administered municipalities. It is traditionally the hub of Western China.
Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province of the People's Republic of China. It is located in the center of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about 1,100 meters (3,600 ft). It has an area of 8,034 square kilometers (3,102 sq mi). At the 2020 census, its population was 5,987,018, out of whom 4,506,134 lived in the six urban districts.
The Sichuan Basin, formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributaries. The basin is anchored by Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, in the west, and the direct-administered municipality of Chongqing in the east. Due to its relative flatness and fertile soils, it is able to support a population of more than 100 million. In addition to being a dominant geographical feature of the region, the Sichuan Basin also constitutes a cultural sphere that is distinguished by its own unique customs, cuisine and dialects. It is famous for its rice cultivation and is often considered the breadbasket of China. In the 21st century its industrial base is expanding with growth in the high-tech, aerospace, and petroleum industries.
Deyang is a prefecture-level city of Sichuan province, China. Deyang is a largely industrial city, with companies such as China National Erzhong Group and Dongfang Electric having major operations there. The city is rich in history, with the Sanxingdui archeological site in Guanghan uncovering a rich trove of bronze and gold masks. More recently, Deyang was greatly afflicted by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which particularly impacted its county-level cities of Mianzhu and Shifang, in Deyang's northwest. Deyang spans an area of 5,911 km2 (2,282 sq mi).
Luzhou (simplified Chinese: 泸州; traditional Chinese: 瀘州; pinyin: Lúzhōu; Sichuanese Pinyin: Nu2zou1; Luzhou dialect: ), formerly transliterated as Lu-chou or Luchow, is a prefecture-level city located in the southeast of Sichuan Province, China. It is also known as the "Liquor City" (酒城). It was named Jiangyang (simplified Chinese: 江阳; traditional Chinese: 江陽; pinyin: Jiāngyáng) until the Northern and Southern dynasties. Situated at the confluence of the Tuo River and the Yangtze River, Luzhou has been Sichuan province's largest port in both size and output since Chongqing's separation from Sichuan in 1997. As of the 2020 Chinese census, its population was 4,254,149. Of these, 1,241,273 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of Jiangyang and Longmatan districts, as Naxi district is not conurbated yet. Luzhou borders Yunnan, Guizhou and Chongqing provinces. As the only geographic junction of the four provinces, it was an important port location in ancient China. After the PRC was founded in 1949, Luzhou became the capital of southern Sichuan province. In 1983, Luzhou was upgraded to prefecture-level city status.
Nanchong is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of Sichuan province, China, with an area of 12,479.96 km2 (4,818.54 sq mi). At the 2020 census it was home to 5,607,565 people, of whom 1,936,534 lived in the built-up area made of three urban districts. It is the second most populated city of Sichuan Province, after Chengdu. The administrative center is Shunqing District.
China Western Development (西部大开发) is an economic policy applied in Western China as part of the effort to reduce imbalances in development between China's coastal regions and its interior.
Guangyuan is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province, China, bordering the provinces of Shaanxi to the northeast and Gansu to the northwest. The city has a population of 2,305,657 as of the 2020 census.
Ziyang prefecture-level city in eastern Sichuan province, China. It is bordered by the provincial capital of Chengdu to the northwest, Deyang to the north, Suining to the northeast, Chongqing municipality to the east, and Neijiang to the west. Its development is going to be very important because of the proximity of Chengdu new Airport and economic zone. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Ziyang's total population was 2,308,631 inhabitants whom 867,119 lived in the built-up area made of Yanjiang District.
Baoji is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi.
Dazhou is a prefecture-level city in the northeast corner of Sichuan province, China, bordering Shaanxi to the north and Chongqing to the east and south. As of 2020 census, Dazhou was home to 5,385,422 inhabitants whom 1,850,869 lived in the built-up area made of 2 urban districts.
Longnan is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Gansu province in China. It borders Sichuan on its south and Shaanxi on its east. As of the 2020 Chinese census, the population of the prefecture-level city was 2,855,555.
Shifang is a county-level city in Sichuan, China, under administration of Deyang prefecture-level city. It is located directly about 50 kilometers (31 mi) from Chengdu. It had an area of 863 km2 (333 sq mi) and a population of 430,000 in 2004. Shifang has a history stretching back over two thousand years. It suffered heavy damage during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The city was also the scene of a large-scale environmental protest against a copper smelting plant in July 2012.
The Baoji–Chengdu railway or Baocheng railway, is a mixed single- and double-track, electrified, railroad in China between Baoji in Shaanxi province and Chengdu in Sichuan province. The Baocheng Line is the main railway connection between the northern/northwestern and southwestern China. The line has a total length of 668.2 km and passes through mostly mountainous terrain in southern Shaanxi, eastern Gansu and northern Sichuan. It opened in 1961 as the first rail outlet from Sichuan, and in 1975 became the first railway in China to be electrified. Other cities along route include Mianyang, Guangyuan, Guanghan and Lueyang.
Xi'an–Chengdu high-speed railway or Xi'an-Chengdu Passenger Dedicated Line, is a dual-track, electrified, high-speed rail line in Western China between Xi'an and Chengdu, respectively the provincial capitals of Shaanxi and Sichuan. This line, which commenced operations on 6 December 2017, runs 510 km (320 mi) through Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces and accommodates trains traveling at speeds up to 250 km/h (160 mph). Travel time between the two provincial capitals was reduced from 16 to less than three hours.
Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu passenger-dedicated line or Huhanrong PDL, is a fully completed higher-speed railway corridor in China. It is operated by CR Shanghai Group, CR Wuhan Group and CR Chengdu Group. The Chinese name of the railway line, Huhanrong, is a combination of the abbreviations for Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chengdu, three major cities along the line.
Lanzhou–Chongqing railway or Lanyu railway is a higher-speed railway in China connecting Lanzhou and Chongqing. Construction started in 2010, last segment of the railway was opened for service in September 2017. The line allows trains to travel between Chongqing and Lanzhou, Gansu via Nanchong and Guangyuan, Sichuan.
The economy of Chongqing, China, has developed rapidly since it was separated from the Sichuan and became a centrally-administered municipality in 1997. In 2019, it was the sixth-largest Chinese city economy and ranked as China's third-largest municipal economy. In China's overall layout, Chongqing is also important for connecting China's underdeveloped western region with its more advanced eastern region, as well as promoting the economy of the mid-lower reaches of Yangtze river and the central western region.