Text/Chen Haoxing
3 trillion yuan is becoming a new starting point for competition among leading domestic cities.
Recently, Chongqing and Guangzhou have successively announced that their regional GDP will exceed the 3 trillion yuan mark in 2023.
Following Shanghai (2017), Beijing (2018), and Shenzhen (2021), my country's "3 trillion GDP club" cities will expand to five.
Among them, Chongqing is the first city in the western region to have a GDP exceeding 3 trillion yuan, and Guangzhou is the second in Guangdong Province after Shenzhen.
Why did Chongqing and Guangzhou become part of the “3 trillion GDP club”?
Who will be next?
Why did Chongqing and Guangzhou join the “3 trillion GDP club”?
How much is 3 trillion yuan?
According to the latest exchange rate, this is approximately US$417 billion.
According to data from the International Monetary Fund, this number is close to Malaysia’s total GDP in 2022 - US$407.9 billion.
In 2023, the Malaysian economy will rank 35th among global economies.
It is not difficult to see from the data that the urban economic scale of the “3 trillion GDP club” has exceeded that of most economies in the world.
Li Jing, vice president of Chongqing Technology and Business University and deputy director of the Upper Yangtze River Economic Research Center, said in an interview with China News Service: As the first city in the western region with a GDP of 3 trillion yuan, Chongqing is a strategic partner of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River economy. The connection point of the belt has a unique geographical location.
Li Jing said that in the past ten years or so, Chongqing has achieved remarkable economic achievements through the opening-up strategy, especially in a series of adjustments in 2023.
In 2023, Chongqing will introduce the "33618" industrial clustering idea, including the development of 3 trillion-level leading industry clusters, 3 500-billion-level pillar industry clusters, 6 100-billion-level characteristic advantageous industry clusters and 18 "new stars" "Industrial clusters have built a new structure of a modern industrial system and provided solid support for industrial transformation and high-quality economic growth.
Yi Xiaoguang, former president and researcher of the Chongqing Institute of Comprehensive Economic Research, pointed out in an interview with China News Service Guoshi Express that as China's old industrial base, Chongqing mainly focused on traditional manufacturing such as light chemicals, natural gas chemicals, and metallurgy before reform and opening up. Mainly industry and machinery manufacturing industry.
These traditional industries provide Chongqing with the foundation and foundation for industrialization. In the face of new technological revolutions and industrial changes, through the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, Chongqing can not only retain the "basic base", but also find development in the new industrial changes. Chance.
Yi Xiaoguang introduced that Chongqing is currently introducing emerging industries, such as electronic information industry, smart car industry, new energy, etc., to continuously iteratively upgrade traditional industries in the direction of informatization and intelligence.
This process includes both the development of new industries and the digital transformation of traditional industries, thereby improving the overall industry level.
Luo Xueming, chief expert of the Guangdong Modern Urban Industrial Technology Research Institute, pointed out in an interview with China News Service: Guangzhou, as the "southern gate" of China, actively promotes the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and supports Shenzhen in building a pioneer demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics. , actively participate in the “Belt and Road” construction, accelerate the construction of an international metropolis and deepen cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao.
This will help promote the free flow of talents, capital, technology and other elements, promote economic integration and coordinated development of the entire region, and provide a strategic fulcrum for Guangdong Province to create a new development pattern.
There are pacesetters in front and pursuers behind. Where is Chongqing and Guangzhou’s stamina?
After successfully entering the "3 trillion GDP club", Chongqing and Guangzhou, in addition to competing with "pacesetters" such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, also need to meet the challenges of "chasers".
How will the two major cities consolidate growth and build momentum?
Li Jing believes that as the only municipality directly under the central government in the central and western regions, Chongqing’s flat management characteristics are conducive to its sustainable development.
The latest data released by the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Statistics shows that Chongqing's economic growth rate will reach 6.1% in 2023, which has exceeded the national average and will strive to be higher than the national average in the future.
This shows that Chongqing will continue to maintain steady growth in economic development and pursue higher-level development goals.
In Luo Xueming's view, Guangzhou and Chongqing have similarities in economic development.
Both places focus on cultivating advantageous industries and strategic emerging industries.
Guangzhou focuses on the development of advanced manufacturing, modern service industries, modern financial systems, marine industries, trade circulation, cultural creativity and other fields, while Chongqing focuses on smart cars, integrated circuits, light metal materials, advanced sensing, industrial big data, and biopharmaceuticals. , aerospace information industry, modern logistics and other fields.
The common goal of both is to promote industrial upgrading, enhance competitiveness, and achieve economic transformation.
As they said, both Guangzhou and Chongqing have demonstrated strong innovation capabilities and entrepreneurial atmosphere, actively introduced and incubated high-tech enterprises, continuously increased support in cutting-edge scientific and technological fields, attracted a large number of outstanding scientific research talents and entrepreneurial teams, and laid the foundation for the future economy. Gaining strong impetus for growth.
Yi Xiaoguang also pointed out that the proportion of high-tech industry development in Chongqing is still relatively low, and the overall employment situation still lags behind that of the eastern coastal areas.
But looking at it conversely, in the new development pattern, the western region is playing a new open frontier role.
"Therefore, in terms of development trends and changes in the open pattern, the western region, especially Chongqing, may have more potential than the eastern coastal areas in the future."
Who is the next member of the “3 trillion GDP club”?
Currently, many cities are on their way to the “3 trillion GDP club”.
According to 2022 data, the top ten GDP cities in the country are Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Hangzhou and Nanjing.
Among them, Suzhou, known as "China's strongest prefecture-level city", is a popular candidate.
In 2022, Suzhou's GDP has reached approximately 2.4 trillion yuan.
On January 3, 2024, Suzhou held a city-wide work conference on promoting new industrialization and proposed to strive to increase GDP to 3 trillion yuan in about three years.
Luo Xueming believes that the “14th Five-Year Plan” has provided Suzhou with huge development opportunities.
As a famous historical and cultural city, a scenic tourist city, and an important center in the Yangtze River Delta, Suzhou has focused on the layout of the industrial chain, scientific and technological research in emerging fields, talent gathering, and modernization of the industrial chain in its existing plans. It also accelerates the integration of Shanghai and Jiangsu and coordinates the integration of the Yangtze River Delta. These measures have laid a solid foundation for Suzhou to achieve GDP exceeding 3 trillion yuan.
Chengdu is also targeting the “3 trillion GDP club”.
In 2022, Chengdu will become the seventh city with a GDP of 2 trillion yuan, with a GDP of 2.08 trillion yuan.
Although it has just reached a big stage, in the 2023 government work report, Chengdu has anchored a new goal for the next five years: the regional GDP exceeds 3 trillion yuan.
Hu Guoping, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and professor of the School of Business Administration of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, said in an interview with China News Service: It is expected that Chengdu will become a modern international metropolis with a GDP of 3 trillion yuan, but in the past several 3 trillion yuan GDP Judging from the general data characteristics of the city, it may take about 4 to 5 years for Chengdu to complete this leap.
He continued to say that Chongqing and Chengdu each have advantages and strengths in terms of population, area, topography, resource factor endowment, industrial support, urban construction, per capita GDP, and total factor productivity.
Chengdu has been firm and effective in "building circles and strong links" and leading the construction of a modern industrial system with scientific and technological innovation. Its economy has grown steadily in recent years.
For example, major projects such as intelligent manufacturing, flexible display, aerospace industry, artificial intelligence, digital economy, energy transportation, and high-speed expansion projects have started construction smoothly, forming strong support for investment.
Hu Guoping predicts that in the future, as the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing twin-city economic circle accelerates, the economic ties and economic collaboration between the two places will further deepen.