Economic vitalization strategy of Chongqing, China

Abstract

It is difficult to change structures in manufacturing and related tertiary sectors in inland regions in China. However, Chongqing succeeded in upgrading its industrial organizations by inducing Taiwanese personal computer (PC) manufacturing companies in 2009. The regional development policies that aimed to improve the infrastructure of Chongqing and advance industrial structures played an important role in this introduction. Regional policies, particularly urbanrural strategies, are expected to upgrade industrial structures to revitalize local regions. Examining Chongqing’s strategy and economy may provide some insight into developing rural regions. The primary aim of this chapter is to show the effects of regional policies on the development of Chongqing: using input-output analysis, we show that the laptop PC manufacturing industry that was introduced to Chongqing had a positive productivity effect on other industries and increased the numbers of workers migrating from other regions. In addition, we show that development of the infrastructure in this city has revitalized the regional economy by attracting other industries. These findings are significant to the development of other under-developed inland regions in China.