Ladies and gentlemen, our flight is scheduled to land at Chengdu Shuangliu/Tianfu International Airport in approximately 30 minutes. As the morning sun illuminates the dewy blossoms, flowers adorn the city of Brocade—Chengdu is a city brimming with the vibrancy of everyday life, an atmosphere that can be found in the small eateries tucked away in its streets and alleys. We invite you to take a stroll through Chengdu, weaving through the bustling crowds to discover the city’s most authentic, down-to-earth charm.Thank you once again for choosing to fly with us. We look forward to seeing you on your next journey!

As your plane gently descends toward Chengdu Airport, you’ll hear this warm, melodious announcement over the intercom.

This is Chengdu.

No matter who you are or where you come from, Chengdu will welcome you like a warm and hospitable friend, inviting you into a cozy little eatery to sip tea, share laughter, and chat about the past and present.

Looking back at history, due to the frequent wars in the Sichuan-Shu region, Sichuan developed a pattern of “few natives and many immigrants,” which also shaped Chengdu’s character of embracing all.

No matter which walk of life you come from, you can shine in Chengdu and contribute your part to building the “Land of Abundance.”

In recent years, Chengdu has seized opportunities to develop rapidly, achieving an impressive GDP of 1.99 trillion yuan in 2021, with a year-on-year growth rate of 8.6%.

Who would have thought that this thriving city once weathered so many storms? It was through a determination to stake everything on a single bet and the accumulation of strength over time that it has achieved its current success.

The Past: An Inland City Without Rivers or Seas; Turbulent Times in Sichuan and Chongqing

In the early years of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu—due to its inland location and lack of major rivers—was known as an industrially weak city with only “three and a half smokestacks.” While its “neighbor” Chongqing was vigorously developing heavy industries such as automobile manufacturing, Chengdu remained stuck in the stage of farming and textile production, with its total industrial added value amounting to a mere 30 million yuan.

The First Five-Year Plan served as the initial driving force behind the launch of Chengdu’s industrialization, with the city designated as a national key base for the electronics industry. The subsequent Second Five-Year Plan and the “Third Front Construction” initiative laid a solid foundation for expanding Chengdu’s heavy industrial landscape. During this period, Chengdu was a thriving hub of factories and a gathering place for workers and researchers, brimming with the vitality of production and research.

However, this prosperity was short-lived. In 1997, the landscape of Sichuan and Chongqing underwent a dramatic shift. Chongqing became a directly administered municipality, and Sichuan lost a large number of factories, with industries such as automobile manufacturing suffering particularly severe blows. At the time, Chengdu was already grappling with the population drain caused by the pull of developed coastal cities; little did anyone expect that a “black hole” would emerge right next door.

Caught between these two forces, Sichuan acted decisively, resolving to pool the province’s resources to build a stronger provincial capital that could maintain the balance of power across the entire Southwest. Thus, carrying the hopes of the entire province, Chengdu began its journey toward a comeback.

The slogans were loud, and the strides were bold, but growing and strengthening a city is never that easy. At the time, Chengdu lacked the resources and strong policy support that Chongqing enjoyed, nor did it possess Xi’an’s well-connected geographical advantages. So, how exactly should it proceed?

The leader said, “No worries, don’t panic.” If our rivals are strong, we’ll forge our own path and avoid their strengths.

Chengdu deployed the strategy of “differentiated competition,” bypassing labor-intensive industries to focus intensely on electronics and information technology, finance, and high-tech manufacturing. It dedicated itself to creating the best entrepreneurial environment and the most livable conditions, striving to become a modern megacity with the strongest “comprehensive strength.”

Forethought is the key to success, and Chengdu’s forward-looking approach to decision-making permeates every detail like flowing water.

For example, two decades ago, Chengdu began planning for “service-oriented administration,” streamlining cumbersome approval processes and establishing one-stop government-business service centers. This resolved challenges such as difficult and time-consuming business approvals, improved resource allocation efficiency, and created a business environment that “enables enterprises to establish operations easily and develop comfortably.”

These thoughtful services fully demonstrate the government’s sincerity and its commitment to enterprises, laying a solid foundation for Chengdu to become the city with the highest concentration of Fortune 500 regional headquarters in Central and Western China.

Chengdu has lived up to its mission. Riding the momentum of the Western Development Initiative and overcoming the challenges of population outflow, it has led Sichuan to the forefront of rapid economic development.

Now: Cutting to the Chase, Acting with Decisive Speed

What goes around comes around.

Today, Chengdu is gradually shedding its image of industrial weakness. A diverse array of industries is flourishing within the city, and the leading electronics and information technology sector has surpassed the trillion-yuan mark—all thanks to Chengdu’s clear planning vision.

In response to the city’s diversified industrial structure, Chengdu has planned and constructed 60 industrial functional zones, adopting a model of concentrated and specialized development. This has completely transformed the previous landscape of numerous small-scale parks with indistinct industrial characteristics, low land utilization rates, and chaotic, unregulated competition for investment.

▲ The Pidu Smart Technology Park, managed by Guchuan Lianxing, is located within Chengdu’s national “trillion-yuan” electronic information industry functional zone. It has consistently adopted the guiding principle of “serving as a supporting role for the industry while playing a leading role in supporting infrastructure.” Thanks to the efficient clustering operations of the functional zone, targeted investment promotion focused on leading industries such as integrated circuits and new display technologies has attracted a large number of high-quality projects. This has driven the “integration” of industrial chains within the city and continuously enhanced their resilience.

Regarding its future development, Chengdu has not only identified the core issues with precision but also demonstrated decisive and efficient action, manifested in two key areas: new district development and overcoming transportation bottlenecks.

The Tianfu New Area in southern Chengdu has attracted the nation’s most advanced industries, such as new energy, new materials, energy conservation and environmental protection, information technology, biotechnology, and high-end equipment manufacturing. In 2021, its regional GDP exceeded 400 billion yuan, ranking fifth among national-level new areas in terms of total output.

This international, modern new city went from initial proposal to final approval in just one year.

In just one year, Chengdu created an entirely new engine for economic growth. This was not merely a simple replication or expansion of existing models, but rather a breakthrough in urban development space achieved through comprehensive institutional innovation, providing a fertile ground for industrial support, reform and innovation, and open cooperation in the new district.

In 2011, Chengdu implemented the “Five Major City Development” strategy, placing “transportation first” at the top of its priorities.

Over the subsequent decade, Chengdu actively developed its rail and air transport networks, laid out multiple dedicated rail lines, and built two international airports. These efforts strengthened vertical connections between Sichuan and other regions in Southwest China while promoting horizontal integration between Western China and international markets. The city rapidly transformed from a “western terminus” into a “western hub,” overcoming its inherent geographical disadvantages and turning its weaknesses into strengths.

Once a city that went largely unnoticed, Chengdu has now become an internationally renowned city with Chinese characteristics. Through this magnificent window that is Chengdu, an increasing number of foreigners are gradually falling in love with Chinese culture.

On the path to creating a legend, skepticism is inevitable. When Chengdu was still constructing the Second Ring Expressway and the Third Ring Expressway, many people thought it was unnecessary and a waste of resources. In the blink of an eye, the elevated roads were packed to capacity with newly added vehicles. At a time when no one anticipated the explosive growth in car ownership, Chengdu had already laid out the path ahead.

With governance that cuts straight to the heart of the matter and construction that moves with lightning speed, Chengdu is like a martial arts master: even when surrounded on all sides and facing ambushes from every direction, it remains calm, breaks through the encirclement, and ascends to the summit.

The Future: Building a Park City Chengdu’s Long-Term Preparation Pays Off

While building a prosperous metropolitan area, the problems of excessive urbanization have followed in quick succession.

Chengdu plans to undertake two major projects to address the “urban ills” of overcrowding and severe smog. The first is to cross the Longquan Mountains and expand eastward, creating a new international city to alleviate population pressure.

The second is to create a model "Park City" that embodies new development concepts.

A “park city” is not merely about adding greenery or building a few more parks; rather, it involves transforming the entire city into one large park, ensuring that every resident can equally enjoy the benefits of a green economy.

By interweaving greenways with urban pathways, parks will be linked into a networked structure; as connectivity improves, ecological buffers will form. Simultaneously, the “Golden Corners and Silver Edges” initiative will be implemented to renovate neglected areas—such as cluttered piles and sanitation blind spots—in these gray zones.

Imagine this: every day, we face busy work schedules, complex data, and various challenges and pressures. But if we look out to see blue skies, white clouds, and lush greenery; if we step outside to find lush tree shade and fresh air; and if our commute is accompanied by the chirping of birds and insects and a gentle breeze—such an experience would certainly be exceptional, and even highly beneficial for soothing the mind and body, as well as for reflection and innovation.

For example, Boston, the global pioneer of the “Park City” concept, significantly enhanced its competitiveness as a hub for research and culture through such initiatives. Prestigious institutions like Harvard and MIT are located there, fostering a large pool of highly skilled and innovative talent.

Could Chengdu replicate this model on an even larger scale?

In the talent recruitment race of the past decade, Chengdu has leveraged its signature cuisine, culture, and laid-back, comfortable lifestyle to attract a constant influx of fresh talent into the arteries of this international metropolis. By the end of 2021, Chengdu’s population had reached 21.192 million, ranking fourth nationwide.

Although Chengdu’s working-age population rivals that of first-tier cities, its economic scale and number of enterprises fall far short. In 2021, Chengdu’s GDP was 1.9917 trillion yuan, ranking seventh nationwide, while its per capita GDP was only 94,600 yuan, ranking twenty-second. With 101 A-share listed companies, it ranked tenth nationally—less than one-third the number found in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.

The result is that, despite its large population, Chengdu lacks sufficient job opportunities with growth potential. Young people are facing increasingly intense competition, and their sense of belonging is dwindling.

Chengdu’s initiative to build a “Park City” aims, in the short term, to improve the environment and enhance residents’ well-being; in the long term, it seeks to drive a major industrial upgrade across the entire region, create a large number of job opportunities, and promote scientific and technological innovation and R&D. The city aspires to become an incubator for youth innovation and entrepreneurship, allowing talent drawn to its reputation to shine on the Chengdu stage.

Faced with such a massive undertaking—spanning twenty major industrial chains—Chengdu remains steadfast in its core strategy: building industrial clusters and strengthening industrial chains. Different leaders are assigned responsibility for different industries, using top-level design to establish industrial ecosystems; leading enterprises with core competitive advantages integrate upstream and downstream sectors, allowing the industrial chains to take shape and strengthen through market competition. Building a park city drives industrial development; industrial agglomeration attracts talent; and the influx of talent contributes to the city’s construction. This virtuous cycle will grow stronger over time.

There is no doubt that Chengdu will become a park city even larger than Boston. We believe that in this world-class endeavor, Chengdu will, as always, live up to everyone’s expectations.

"Chengdu was carved from the heavens; Ten thousand households and a thousand gates form a picture."

This verse by Li Bai perfectly captures Chengdu today.

This city, where the classical and the modern blend, remains bright and prosperous after a thousand years of history, touching the hearts of all.

Chengdu demonstrates through its actions that only through persistent, day-by-day effort can one achieve success built on a solid foundation, weather the winter, and welcome spring.