● What did Guang'an do right to achieve the fourth-highest GDP growth rate in the province?

● Why is this border town favored by Chongqing?

● What role does Guang'an play in the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle?

● Can Guang'an, which has "entered Chongqing," become the "hope of eastern Sichuan"?

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Lying flat is a posture of积蓄 strength.

It's unclear when "lying flat" became a "philosophical dictum" for young people to approach life. In the days of hurrying to meet deadlines, they choose to drink bubble tea and type leisurely; in times overwhelmed by competition, they simply escape from the modern era and nestle at home watching anime.

Rejecting intense competition and embracing a peaceful lie-down lifestyle is the life philosophy of contemporary young people.

While young people choose to resist the "intense competition" and pressure from all directions by peacefully "lying flat," a city that is about to enter its "thirties" has bucked the trend, starting to gallop forward after years of "lying flat".

It is Guang'an.

In May this year, the Town Economy Research Center of Saidi Industry and Information Technology Research Institute (Group) Sichuan Co., Ltd. released research results such as the "Top 100 in Western China." Guang'an's only administrative town, Dingping Town in Linshui County, made the list prominently, becoming one of the "Top 100 Town Economies in Western China for 2024"!

Guang'an, a city that has been established for less than 26 years①, a city that is often confused with Guanghan (home to Sanxingdui) and Guangyuan (home to Jianmen Pass), and a city with relatively low visibility within Sichuan, is poised to seize the opportunity for "breakthrough".

Image source: Sichuan Provincial People's Government website

A hundred miles apart, separating a distance of hundreds of billions.

Guang'an's geographical location is quite interesting. It is located in the eastern extension of the Sichuan Basin, bordering Dazhu in Dazhou and Changshou and Yubei in Chongqing to the east, Hechuan in Chongqing and Gaoping in Nanchong to the west, Hechuan and Yubei in Chongqing to the south, and Quxian and Dazhu in Dazhou to the north. In short, Guang'an faces the fertile Sichuan Plain to the northwest and relies on the steep ridges and valleys of Chongqing, a mountainous city, to the southeast. With mountains, water, and plains, this city's geographical environment is quite superior.

Image source: Guang'an Daily

However, Guang'an, despite its favorable geographical position, seems to always lack a bit of fortune.

In 1993, the Guang'an region was officially established, marking the end of its history under the jurisdiction of Nanchong and Dazhou. This was great news for the people of Guang'an, but they also faced a significant challenge:

Transportation!

In 1993, the total mileage of roads in the Guang'an region was only 2,631 kilometers, which was 334.6 kilometers less than Yibin a decade earlier②.

Not only was there a lack of roads, but the Jialing River and Qu River, which connect Guang'an and Chongqing, also suffered from low water levels throughout the year, leading to a sluggish water transportation industry. The inconvenience of people's travel and the poor transportation of materials created a very backward transportation environment.

Located at the eastern gate of Sichuan and relying on the mountainous Chongqing, Guang'an enjoys a unique "hinterland" position but has not received the "hinterland" treatment.

On top of that, more snow.

In 1997, Chongqing separated from Sichuan and became a municipality, with policies and industries flooding in, adding luster to its local industrial sector. With its control over the water resources of the Jialing River, Chongqing has also monopolized water transportation between Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Chongqing. Guang'an, only 100 kilometers away from Chongqing③, has seen its policies, industries, and transportation "siphoned" by the municipality, and its talent has gradually "moved south" towards Chongqing.

With inconvenient transportation and a loss of both people and wealth, Guang'an then faced a third blow – Sichuan's "strong provincial capital" strategy. Resources within Sichuan poured into Chengdu, making it even more difficult for this already resource-scarce city.

Under the triple blow, Guang'an became "silent." Among the "three Guangs," they were often confused; economically, they were mediocre; and their status as the "hinterland" of Sichuan and Chongqing seemed nonexistent.

Guang'an seemed to be "lying flat," calm and indifferent, not seeking merits but avoiding faults.

Is it really a case of not striving or competing?

Extraordinary strategies emerge from conventional ones, and without conventional strategies, there cannot be extraordinary ones. Without openly constructing roads, one cannot secretly infiltrate an enemy camp.

— The Art of War

To the west is the influx of resources from all over Sichuan into Chengdu under the "strong provincial capital" strategy; to the south is Chongqing's "siphoning" of policies, industries, and talent. Facing a "double squeeze" from both cities, Guang'an was smart. Rather than letting resources flow away, it chose to actively "ally" itself.

Guang'an quietly set its sights on Chongqing.

During the "Ninth Five-Year Plan" period, the Guang'an government focused on high-grade highways, aiming to build hubs and networks that connect south to Chongqing, east to Dianjiang, and west to the Chengdu-Nanchong Expressway.

In 2000, the Guang'an-Linshui Expressway was completed, opening the first high-speed channel connecting Guang'an to Chongqing④; in early 2009, the section of the Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway from Guang'an Linshui to Chongqing Dianjiang was completed and opened to traffic, shortening the distance between Guang'an and Chongqing to within 50 kilometers!

Image source: China Transportation Online

After openly constructing the "roads," Guang'an began to "secretly infiltrate Chongqing".

In 2008, the Guang'an government clarified its positioning as a "supporting role for Chongqing, integrating into the Chongqing economic circle" and proposed three goals: establishing a Chongqing industrial supporting base, a Chongqing specialty agricultural product supply base, and a Chongqing leisure and resort tourism base.

Image source: Guang'an Release

In 2011, Guang'an even wrote "integration into Chongqing" into its "Twelfth Five-Year Plan," listing "building fast passages to Chongqing and achieving comprehensive connectivity with the Chongqing transportation circle" as one of its development goals and including "overall integration into the Chongqing urban agglomeration and leveraging urban scale effects" in its urban construction planning. In the 71-page document, Guang'an's government mentioned "Chongqing" as many as 18 times, showing that the Guang'an government began laying out its "southward" path more than a decade ago.

Policies lead the way, and construction follows closely.

In 2013, under the guidance of the National Development and Reform Commission's "Approval of the Overall Planning Scheme for the Construction of the Sichuan-Chongqing Cooperation Demonstration Park (Guang'an Area)," the construction of the Gaotan Sichuan-Chongqing Cooperation Demonstration Park was officially launched; in 2019, Liangjiang New Area and Guang'an reached strategic cooperation in six areas, including promoting industrial collaboration and strengthening enterprise interaction between the two regions; in 2020, Chongqing Guoyuan Port International Logistics Hub Company and the Guang'an Linshui government signed a strategic cooperation agreement to promote Linshui's access to external logistics channels and form a logistics hub radiating northeastern Sichuan, relying on dry ports...

Sichuan-Chongqing Cooperation Gaotan Park / Image source: Guang'an Release

Guang'an, a city with relatively low visibility within Sichuan, is quietly working hard to promote deeper and more solid cooperation between Sichuan and Chongqing through actions.

Great achievements stem from long-term obscurity.

After more than two decades of "silence," Guang'an has finally ushered in the opportunity for "takeoff".

In 2021, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Outline of the Construction Plan for the Chengdu-Chongqing Twin-City Economic Circle," clearly stating:

Promote Guang'an's full integration into the Chongqing metropolitan area and build a Sichuan-Chongqing cooperation demonstration zone.

This time, Guang'an finally took center stage as the protagonist.

Riding on the "east wind" of the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Twin-City Economic Circle, Chongqing and Guang'an established the Gaozhu New Area based on the Gaotan Park. This is the only cross-provincial provincial-level new area approved by both Sichuan and Chongqing, meaning that Guang'an will become a fulcrum driving the dual-core development of the twin-city economic circle and play an important role in promoting economic development in the western region of Chengdu and Chongqing.

Gaozhu New Area / Image source: Guang'an Release

With a solid foundation, Guang'an has been working tirelessly to promote industrial collaboration with Chongqing.

On the one hand, Yubei and Guang'an have accelerated the construction of a dual-city industrial cooperation demonstration park jointly built by the new area and Yubei Airport Industrial Park, accelerating the hierarchical supporting system of the new area and its full integration into the industrial development chain of the main urban area of Chongqing; on the other hand, the Gaozhu New Area has taken the lead in establishing a cross-provincial unified investment promotion system, sorting out and forming a list of administrative powers for economic management, providing institutional support for the development of the industrial economy.

As of April 2024, the Gaozhu New Area has signed 54 major projects with a total investment of 36.1 billion yuan, with a cumulative number of 205 enterprises settling in, 48 above-scale enterprises being cultivated, and a cumulative bank credit line of 120.6 billion yuan. In 2023, it achieved an industrial output value of 6 billion yuan. The first cross-provincial jointly built provincial-level new area in the country is releasing industrial vitality for the development of the twin-city economic circle!

In 2023, the "Guang'an City Implementation of the Primary Strategy of Urban Integration to Build a Northern Sub-center of the Chongqing Metropolitan Area Action Plan (2023-2027)" was issued, clearly outlining goals such as building a supporting base for world-class advanced manufacturing clusters in the Chengdu-Chongqing region, creating a demonstration zone for modern and efficient characteristic agriculture in urban areas, and cultivating a recipient of the spillover of Chongqing's modern service industry functions.

Under the guidance of policies, Chongqing's established pharmaceutical company Xieran Pharmaceutical, Chongqing's auto parts company Sichuan Yaoye Technology, Sichuan Hanhai, and other "Chongqing-based" or "supporting Chongqing" enterprises have successively "settled" in Guang'an. The "four hundred million" industrial projects of Hebang,利尔, Chengxin, and Jiuyuan are in full swing in Cong⑤; Guang'an's "331" modern industrial system has been basically established, and Guang'an's economy is booming everywhere!

The GDP data for the first quarter of 2024 was released, with Guang'an's growth rate reaching 8.0%, 2.7 and 1.9 percentage points higher than the national and provincial averages, respectively, ranking fourth in Sichuan! This is the first time since 2018 that Guang'an has entered the province's first echelon.

Image source: Sichuan Observation News

Led by the new area, Chongqing and Guang'an jointly create a new industrial model; transportation follows closely, with a half-hour commute fully integrating into the Chongqing metropolitan area.

In 2022, construction began on Guang'an's first high-speed railway, the Xi'an-Chongqing High-Speed Railway (Guang'an section). After completion, it will take only 22 minutes for Guang'an to reach Chongqing, truly realizing Guang'an's integration into the Chongqing half-hour transportation circle; in 2024, the third phase of the Sichuan-Chongqing North-South Avenue was officially opened to traffic, with the fastest journey from the Gaozhu New Area to the central urban area of Chongqing taking only 30 minutes, saving more than 60 yuan in logistics costs per ton!

Phase III of the North-South Avenue in the Sichuan-Chongqing Gaozhu New Area / Image source: Chengdu Transportation