CHONGQING

It is undoubtedly the largest and most populous municipality of China, characterised by an large number of inhabitants, some 33-million on a surface of 82,000sq/km. 

Its name means “double celebration” and historically was once the great capital of the Ba Empire, established in the XI century B.C, and has been a point of reference for trade with foreign nations since 1981.   

In 1929 during the Chinese-Japanese War, the city was heavily bombed by the Japanese air force during, practically destroying it and reducing it to a small provincial town.

In 1997 the National People’s Congress decided to merge the city with the neighbouring Fuling, Wauxian and Qianjiang districts, resulting in the current municipality, divided in 40 sub-divisions, 1,259 communes, 15 districts and 21 counties.

Starting in 2000, Chongqing underwent an incredible and unexpected change: long and spacious highways, vanguard infrastructure networks, majestic and luminous skyscrapers, radiant and welcoming streets, transformed it into an extremely modern and technological city, light years from old times; in was in fact nicknamed “Asian New York”.    

This revolution was the beginning of Chongqing’s transformation into a point of reference for the entire Chinese economy: the Central government made a very important and fundamental decision, concentrating all future development activities in this area, with an enormous use of human resources, but mainly financial, with the investment of US$190-billion for the 2007/2011 period.

The results soon became obvious: many multinationals from all sectors settled in the Chongqing area, favoured by strong tax exemptions, low costs and guaranteed earnings.

The Gross domestic product of the whole municipality is 226 billion yuan and 7200 yuan pro-capitae, an amazing result even for the whole Asian continent.

Chongqing is today the biggest industrial and commercial district of western China, and is undoubtedly the leader in many sectors such as building, automotive, biotechnology, iron and steel industry, chemical industry, mining, electronics and tourism.

Not far from Chongquing is the Three Gorges national park, characterized by thick vegetation, breathtaking views and mysterious and fascinating temples carved out of stone. These can be admired while navigating along the river Yangtze on board a typical ferryboat. This area has always been a source of inspiration for poets and artists.

One of the main passions of the population is music: the great music artists that ended up in the emperors courts originated from here. The nations largest auditorium, “The Great Hall of the People” is located in Chongquing.

This in summary is Chongqing, a city that offers hospitality and surprises to those that wish to visit it or do business.