Sichuan Province

Located in Western China, Sichuan serves as a pivotal junction of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, functioning as a key gateway for China's westward and southward opening. It is a major Chinese province excelling in economy, population, resources, and science-education, with a permanent population of 83 million, ranking fifth in the country, and a land area of 486,000 square kilometers, also ranking fifth nationally.

Sichuan's strategic significance continues to grow. With a profound historical legacy, the province has long been a strategic rear area for the nation. To the west, Sichuan borders the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, forming a unique strategic barrier; to the east, it integrates with the Yangtze River Economic Belt, connecting to the coastal ports of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai; to the north, it links with Eurasia via Xinjiang and the Alashankou and Khorgos ports; and to the south, it extends along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, serving as the nearest route from western China to Southeast Asia. Currently, major national strategies such as the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, the New Era Western Development Drive, the Yangtze River Economic Belt development, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the plan to establish Chengdu as an international comprehensive transportation hub are being accelerated in Sichuan, ushering in a critical period for the province's development and elevated strategic position. Notably, the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, personally planned, deployed, and promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping, has defined its strategic positioning as "one core pole, one source, two centers, and two hubs," which not only charts the course for Sichuan's future development but also expands opportunities for businesses to invest and thrive in the region.

The economy has been developing steadily and healthily, with the regional GDP surpassing two consecutive trillion-yuan milestones to reach RMB5.67 trillion in 2022, marking a growth rate of 2.9% and securing the sixth position nationwide. Chengdu has joined the ranks of China's megacities, becoming the third city in the country to achieve a GDP exceeding RMB2 trillion. The economic output of all seven regional central cities has surpassed RMB200 billion, with Mianyang and Yibin each exceeding RMB300 billion. The growth rates of value-added industrial output above the designated size, fixed-asset investment, and total retail sales of consumer goods were 3.8%, 8.4%, and -0.1% respectively, outperforming the national averages by 0.2, 0.9, and 0.1 percentage points, steadily advancing Sichuan's transition from a major economic province to a strong economic province. In 2022, Sichuan attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) totaling USD3.53 billion, equivalent to RMB23.03 billion, reflecting a 5.2% increase. The import and export volume expanded to RMB1.0077 trillion, ranking eighth in the country.

Sichuan is endowed with abundant natural resources, boasting the largest reserves of eight minerals, including natural gas, shale gas, and lithium ore, ranking first in the nation. The reserves of five minerals, such as iron ore, rank second, while six others, including graphite, are among the top three nationally. Leveraging its advantages in hydropower, wind, solar, and natural gas, Sichuan has made remarkable progress in building a national clean energy demonstration province, with clean energy's share of installed capacity rising to over 85%. The installed hydropower capacity approaches 100 million kilowatts, contributing 28 out of every 100 kilowatt-hours of the nation's hydropower. The annual electricity transmission under the "west-to-east power transmission" project exceeds 150 billion kilowatt-hours, equivalent to 1.3 times the annual power generation of the Three Gorges hydropower station. The cascade development on the lower Jinsha River has been fully realized with the completion of four large hydropower stations, including Wudongde and Baihetan. Their aggregate installed capacity reaches 46.46 million kilowatts, which is double that of the Three Gorges hydropower station. Baihetan's full operation signifies that the world's largest clean energy corridor has been completed on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and General Secretary Xi Jinping commended this achievement in his New Year address. The construction of the national natural gas (shale gas) 100-billion-cubic-meter-capacity base is being accelerated; annual natural gas output ranks first nationwide, and the Sichuan-to-East gas transmission pipeline sends more than 14 billion cubic meters on an annual basis. The construction of the "Three Prefectures and One City" photovoltaic power generation base is being accelerated, and Liangshan's towering wind turbines generated 11.7 billion kilowatt-hours of green electricity in one year. Carbon emission intensity has fallen markedly, and Sichuan now ranks among the provinces with the lowest per-capita carbon emissions.

The transportation hub is easily accessible and highly efficient. Sichuan has built a national comprehensive three-dimensional transport hub: in five years it spent RMB1.5 trillion on transport, opened 41 major corridors into and out of the province by 2022, extended its expressways to 9,179km, grew rail lines to 6,033km with 1,390km of high-speed track, expanded urban rail to 558km, and increased civil airports to 16. Tianfu International Airport has opened, making Chengdu the third mainland city with two international airports. The Xi'an-Chengdu and Chengdu-Guiyang passenger dedicated lines have opened to traffic, while construction has begun on the Chengdu-Dazhou-Wanzhou, Chengdu-Chongqing Middle Line High-Speed Railway and Chengdu-Zigong-Yibin high-speed railways, enabling faster connections to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao growth poles. Work is advancing at full speed on the landmark Sichuan-Xizang Railway and the Xining-Chengdu Railway. Inland waterways navigable for 11,000km rank fourth nationwide, and 18 ports handle close to 100 million tons a year, serving the whole province and extending their economic hinterland into parts of Yunnan, Guizhou, Shaanxi and Gansu. Sichuan is forging the nation's fourth aviation pillar. 16 general-aviation airports are already in service, and Chengdu stands as China's fourth-largest air hub and its third dual-international-gateway city. In 2022, Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport offered 375 routes, 131 of them international or regional. Over the past five years, the China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) have accounted for 33% of the country's total services, while the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor trains have made 1,482 trips. The new Chengdu-Kunming Railway has been completed along its entire route, and the China-Laos freight service is now running, opening wider access to Southeast Asia's vast market.

The pace of industrial upgrading is accelerating. Home to all 41 manufacturing categories, Sichuan offers a broad and solid industrial base with standout strengths. The province hosts trillion-yuan clusters in electronics and food & beverage, and it ranks among the nation's premier centers for equipment, aircraft, and power-generation manufacturing. Electronics and information technology, energy and chemical industries, and food and light textiles have each surpassed RMB one trillion in output value. Chengdu software and information services, the Chengdu-Deyang high-end energy equipment cluster, and the Chengdu-Chongqing advanced electronics manufacturing cluster have all been designated national advanced manufacturing clusters. Chengdu biomedicine, Chengdu rail-transit equipment, and Zigong energy-saving and environmental protection industries have likewise been approved as national strategic emerging industry clusters. Sichuan has implemented multi-billion-yuan flagship projects such as CATL's power-battery base, BOE's facilities, and Tongwei Solar plants; secured major foreign ventures including Airbus' whole-life-cycle services; and fostered a power-battery industry now worth over RMB100 billion. It is planning and building the "China Dental Valley", which has already become the nation's largest concentration of oral-care enterprises. It has added 19 nationally recognized manufacturing single-product champions and 338 "Little Giant" firms that is specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative. Digital power is transforming every sector as Sichuan races to build a robust network province, a fully digital Sichuan, and a smart society, expanding the use of big data, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things on a broader scale. Sichuan has officially completed its National Pilot Zones for Digital Economy Innovation and Development. Construction has started on the Chengdu-Chongqing node of the national integrated computing-power network. The Chengdu Supercomputing Center, ranked among the world's top ten in computing capacity, has been formally accepted into the national system, and the Ya'an Big Data Industrial Park has become China's first carbon neutrality green data center. The core digital economy sectors in the province generated an added value of RMB432.4 billion. Consumption upgrades are unlocking new potential: Chengdu now ranks third nationally for flagship store debuts and first for nighttime economy, while the city's Taikoo Li and SKP districts have matured into premier global shopping destinations. The "Three Hundred Projects" for the service sector have been implemented, bringing 9 regional consumer hubs to life. Sales of new-energy vehicles and other bulk commodities are soaring. New service models are booming, pushing the province's online transaction volume to 6th place in the country.

Innovation and openness are gaining powerful momentum. Sichuan has steadily expanded its opening-up: its comprehensive bonded zones rose from 1 to 6 by 2022, while the Chengdu Hi-tech Comprehensive Bonded Zone has led the country in import-export value for four straight years. The province now hosts 8 cross-border e-commerce pilot zones, 20 national bases for foreign-trade upgrading, 9 national service-trade platforms, and 10 state-level economic and technological development zones. Sichuan's foreign direct investment grew 32%, making it the largest in scale among all central and western regions. A total of 377 Fortune Global 500 companies have established operations in the province, the highest figure in central and western China. With 23 foreign consulates approved to open, Chengdu now ranks as China's Third Consular City, behind only Shanghai and Guangzhou. Sichuan has established 440 sister-city and friendly-cooperation partnerships, the most in central and western China. Sichuan's innovation momentum is growing stronger; it hosts the country's only National Technical Standards Innovation Base. Sichuan is home to 134 regular higher-education institutions, including Sichuan University and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 53 of which are undergraduate institutions. 14 disciplines at 8 of these universities were included in the second round of the national "Double First-Class" initiative, ranking the province ninth nationwide in the number of selected disciplines. It counts 65 academicians (66 incumbencies in total), more than 3.8 million technical professionals, and 10.56 million skilled workers, and is now building a nationally influential science and technology innovation center. With the "10-Point Sci-Tech Innovation Policies" in force, the province leads central and western regions in R&D expenditure, and its national innovation ranking has climbed from 11th to 9th. Western China's first national laboratory has been established in Sichuan. The province now operates 10 major national research facilities, placing it third in the country. It is also home to 16 State Key Laboratories, four Tianfu Laboratories, and nine National Engineering Research Centers. The National Sichuan-Xizang Railway Technology Innovation Center is now operational. An additional 47 national innovation platforms have been established, including centers for precision medicine and ultra-high-definition video, raising the provincial total to 195. Fifteen major science and technology programs have been implemented, and the province has collected 145 national science and technology awards. Sichuan has seen the development of key national products like Chengdu J-20, Hualong One, and the 50-megawatt heavy-duty gas turbine. 22 national technology transfer institutions have been established. The province has carried out 1,142 major projects for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and the development of innovative products. In 2022, the number of high-tech enterprises reached 14,000, and the momentum of innovation-driven development continues to grow.

The business environment is becoming increasingly improved. Sichuan is benchmarking international standards for business environments, and it continues to deepen the "streamlining of administration, delegating powers, and improving regulation and services" reform. The proportion of services that require "only one visit" has increased to 99.2%, and the proportion of services that can be "fully processed online" has risen to 94.9%. Deposits and loans have respectively topped RMB11 trillion and RMB9 trillion. The financial sector's total assets are among the highest in the country, and the loan-to-deposit ratio has risen 15 percentage points to 82.6%. Sichuan Bank has been established to become a flagship of local finance. The number of listed companies domestically and abroad grew by 74, doubling the figure from the previous five-year period. The construction of the Western Financial Center has progressed robustly, with Chengdu being included among China's first batch of pilot cities for the digital yuan. A series of policy measures have been introduced, including the Several Policies on Further Supporting Technological Innovation, the Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Private Economy, the Implementation Opinions on Further Improving the Utilization of Foreign Investment, and the Several Policy Measures for Focusing on High-Quality Development to Promote Overall Economic Recovery, alongside targeted initiatives such as "13 measures to alleviate difficulties for SMEs," "10 measures to support individual businesses," "10 measures for electricity support," "10 tax relief measures," and "19 financial support measures," all demonstrating tangible financial commitments to bolster enterprise development. In 2022, the province's private sector comprised 8.041 million entities, a 7% increase, accounting for 97.4% of all market entities. The added value of the private economy reached RMB3.05 trillion, growing by 1.2% and contributing 53.7% to the total GDP.

A life of comfort and ease. Sichuan boasts high standards in healthcare and education, with the number of licensed physicians per 1,000 people ranking among the top nationally. West China Hospital enjoys nationwide renown, and the province hosts 310 tertiary hospitals - the highest number in China. It has also built the country's fourth-largest modern education system. Chengdu, the only megacity in the world where residents can gaze upon snow-capped peaks exceeding 5,000 meters, seamlessly blends urban vibrancy with local charm, having topped the list of "China's Happiest Cities" for 14 consecutive years. The integration of culture and tourism has gained momentum, adding six 5A-level tourist attractions and three national-level tourism resorts. The province leads the nation with eight national all-for-one tourism demonstration zones, six national eco-tourism demonstration zones, and 13 national nighttime cultural and tourism consumption hubs. Major cultural and sports facilities such as the Sichuan Theatre, Chengdu City Concert Hall, and Dong'an Lake Sports Park have been completed. The groundbreaking discovery of the Piluo Paleolithic site, the re-emergence of the awe-inspiring Sanxingdui ruins, the global appeal of the giant panda super IP, and the enchanting return of Jiuzhaigou Valley further elevate Sichuan's allure.