According to the Liangjiang New Area ninth plenary (enlarged) meeting, in the first half of this year, total merchandise sales in Jiangbei district, Chongqing Municipality, reached 176 billion yuan ($ 190 billion), ranking first in the city.

He Gui, district mayor of Jiangbei, said that in the second half of the year, Jiangbei district will accelerate the development of its financial and services industries. Jiangbei will also bring a batch of international luxury brands to attract more people to go there for shopping.

This year, Jiangbei has strived to develop a tertiary industry where 20 new projects have been started, including Blue Ocean Intelligent Industrial Park. 62 ongoing projects, including Rongheng Times Square accelerated the speed of construction. 31 international companies set up their China headquarters here including Woori Bank, greatly promoting the structural upgrade of the district.

In the first half of this year, the region's service sector contributed 84 percent of GDP, with the financial services industry’s contribution rated at 44.8 percent. Tax revenue from the finance and insurance sectors exceeded that of the real estate sector, making the top sector of total tax revenues in the district.

In the second half, Jiangbei district will accelerate 139 key projects, ensuring the start of 76 key projects including Xiaoyuan urban redevelopment, and the completion of 36 key projects including Fishmen’s Wharf.

Meanwhile, Jiangbei district will develop new business models including experiential integration of online and offline consumption. The E-commerce Industrial Park will be further expanded and major online retailers will be settled in. The district is supporting the transformation of traditional commercial enterprises and encourage s them to increase online sales. Relying on Jiangbeizui Central Business District, Jiangbei welcomes more international companies to come and set up their China headquarters, especially in the field of financial innovation, such as internet finance, in a bid to become a financial hub.

According to statistics, from January to June this year, Jiangbei district’s local GDP reached 29.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.6 percent. Public revenue reached four billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.7 percent and ranked first in Chongqing Municipality. Fixed asset investment was 220 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16 percent, of which key project investments reached 14 billion yuan, an increase of 21.3 percent.

By Huang Pei

Edited by Brian Salter