The first phase of Chongqing design park, which is home to many design studios and professional design companies. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently released the service-oriented manufacturing demonstration city list, which included Chongqing along with Pudong New Area, Shenzhen and Yantai. Chongqing was the only city in Central and West China to be selected.

Industrial design has been increasing in popularity over the past decade. A majority of developed countries now view it as being of strategic importance to many industrial sectors.

Statistics show that 1 yuan ($0.16) invested in industrial design will lead to 108 yuan in product sales for manufacturers. From January to October this year, State-level and municipal industrial design centers in Chongqing registered 190 billion yuan in sales, a year-on-year increase of 28.2 percent.

To become a design capital such as Berlin in Germany, Nagoya in Japan, and Seoul in South Korea, Chongqing is focusing on becoming greener, more intelligent and humane, with strong demand and huge potential for making breakthroughs in many design areas.

As early as 2019, the municipality began prioritizing its industrial design layout and building consumer goods design platforms to assist enterprises in brand shaping and product quality. Last year, Chongqing rolled out action plans to digitalize and intelligentize the industrial design process.

Chongqing is currently home to 10 national and 71 municipal industrial design centers, with nearly 7,000 design staff members, and has established a group of innovative service platforms featuring the "internet + industrial design" development model.

In addition, Chongqing is leading the nation in formulating a complete industrial design talent assessment system, which offers replicable and applicable experience for the rest of the nation.