Chongqing's declining growth rate has seen it drop to
the bottom of the list of China's fastest growing regions.
China Briefing puts a spotlight on the city and examines how
despite its recent economic performance (which may also explain
China's overall slowdown) foreign investors won't be
leaving yet.
In 2018, Chongqing became China's fifth city to generate
over RMB 2 trillion (US$295 billion) in GDP – after Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. A large manufacturing base
located by the Yangtze river in the midwest of China,
Chongqing's economy posted 15 consecutive years of double-digit
growth beginning in 2002, reaching a high of 17.1 percent in
2010.
Last year, however, Chongqing's GDP growth rate slumped to
six percent – far below its target of 8.5 percent and behind
the national average of 6.6 percent. This dramatically brought down
Chongqing's rank in the list of China's 31 fastest growing regions –
from being first in 2016 to 24th in 2018.
