Press Conference | Signing Contracts for 212 Major Projects! The Eighth Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade Showcases Vibrant Opening-up

On May 24, the Information Office of Chongqing Municipal People’s Government held the Briefing on Achievements of the Eighth Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade. With the theme of “New West, New Manufacturing, New Services”, the current session of the Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade sincerely invited the United Kingdom as the Guest Country of Honor, Sichuan Province as the Permanent Guest Province of Honor, and Gyeonggi-do of the Republic of Korea as the Guest City of Honor. Over the four days, the guests from all over the world took the “exhibition” as the guide and the “conference” as the platform, exploring unlimited possibilities through negotiation in western China.

Scene of the Achievements Briefing

 

Presenter

 

Zhang Yongwu, the Director of the Organizing Committee Office of the Eighth Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade, the Secretary of the Leading Party Group and the Director of Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce

Moderator

He Ya, the Director of the Press Release Office of the Publicity Department of Chongqing Municipal Party Committee

 

 

At the briefing, Zhang Yongwu, the Director of the Organizing Committee Office of the Eighth Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade, the Secretary of the Leading Party Group and the Director of Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce, introduced that the current session of the Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade features four prominent characteristics:

 

Signing the Contracts for 212 Major Projects & Obtaining the UFI Accreditation 

The Current Session of the Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade Features Four Prominent Highlights

The achievements of the new era in the western region are fully demonstrated.

27 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across China (including Chongqing), the Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, China’s Taiwan region, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps participated in the exhibition and conference. All 12 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in western China took part, and the achievements of high-quality development in western China were presented in a panoramic way through the “exhibition + event” model.

 

‌The domestic and international cooperation is comprehensively deepened‌.

Nearly 1,400 enterprises and institutions from 50 countries and regions participated in the Fair. Compared with the previous session, the number of participating countries and regions increased by 11, the number of participating enterprises increased by 56, and the number of participating Fortune Global 500 multinational corporations reached 145 [an increase of 5 over the previous session].

On the afternoon of May 21, the European Enterprises Chongqing Visit and Industrial Matchmaking Conference were held.

 

The practice of boosting industrial development and promoting trade through exhibitions has delivered remarkable outcomes.

A total of 49 themed events were held covering industrial development, foreign investment, economic and trade cooperation, and consumption promotion, and the contracts for 212 major projects were signed. Among them, the contracts for 124 major projects were signed on the centralized ceremony. A number of major projects with great influence and high driving force, including the new energy vehicle hybrid transmission project and Yuhu Cold Chain Smart Park project, have been settled in Chongqing, and a large number of enterprises entered into the procurement agreements via the platform of the Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade.

 

The Fair’s capability has achieved a critical leap.

The Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade has successfully obtained the accreditation from the Union Des Foires Internationales (UFI), becoming the first UFI-accredited fair hosted by provincial and ministerial Party and government organs in western China, and the third one in the whole country, indicating that its international credibility and brand influence have increased significantly. As of 10:00 a.m. on May 24, the current session of the Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade has attracted 72,000 visitors to participate in exhibition and conference, visit and consume, including approximately 10,000 professional visitors, approximately 12,000 exhibitors, and nearly 50,000 general visitors.

 

The four achievements made at the current session of the Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade are shown as follows:

 

A grand brand event is hosted, and the platform’s capability is upgraded significantly.

The window of opening-up becomes brilliant increasingly.

 

This session of Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade has been continuously optimizing the exhibition mode, expanding the platform scale and upgrading the fair quality, with a total exhibition area of 150,000 square meters. Four thematic exhibition areas including comprehensive image, producer services, industrial integrated development, and international and regional cooperation are set up innovatively, building a landmark window for western China to connect with the world, showcase its image and deepen opening-up.

 

‌International cooperation expands in scope and improves in quality.‌

As the Guest Country of Honor, the UK has brought the business delegation to western China with the largest scale in recent years. The China-Britain Business Council signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce, and entered into the contracts for the major projects including AI-enabled smart elderly care and healthcare. As the Guest City of Honor, Gyeonggi-do held the China-ROK (Chongqing-Gyeonggi) Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Conference, and inaugurated the China-ROK Center for Friendly Economic Cooperation. The Vietnam-China (Chongqing) Trade & Investment Promotion Conference was successfully held. The Chongqing Municipal People’s Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam signed the “Three-year Action Plan on Implementing the Memorandum on Strengthening Economic and Trade Cooperation”, and multiple Vietnamese enterprises and institutions entered into the cooperation agreements with Chongqing.

Some guests visited the pavilion of the UK as the Guest Country of Honor. Photo by Xin Fei

 

‌Regional cooperation is close and pragmatic.‌

More than 30 enterprises and nearly 100 exhibits from Sichuan, the Guest Province of Honor, were presented collectively, and three prefecture-level cities including Nanchong, Luzhou and Guang’an participated in the exhibition independently. A number of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government including Shanghai, Hunan, Gansu and Liaoning held special promotion events at the Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade. Among them, Guangxi held two promotion events including Guangxi Promotion Conference for High-level Joint Construction of New Western Land-Sea Corridor and “Guangxi Night” Tourism Promotion Conference, with 12 agreements and 3 major projects signed. At the Promotional Conference on Jointly Building a High Ground for New Industries and New Services in the New West held by Qamdo, Tibet, 22 cooperation projects and agreements were signed.

The aerospace industry exhibits at the pavilion of Sichuan as the Guest Province of Honor attracted numerous guests. Photo by Xin Fei, a journalist from 1st Eye TV – www.cqnews.net 

Joint efforts made by urban districts demonstrate a new outlook.‌

 

The Chongqing Comprehensive Image Exhibition Area focuses on the cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, low-altitude economy, power equipment and advanced materials, presenting the core achievements made by Chongqing in fostering new quality productivity and promoting high-quality development. Certain star products are on display, including the domestically first mass-production-approved manned autonomous aerial vehicle – Chang’an Flying Car, the AITO M9, the motorcycle of Zhangxue Machinery wining five successive championships, and the matrix of intelligent robots. The district/county-themed day was held for the first time, attracting more enterprises to make investment in Chongqing. The Main Metropolitan Area, Three Gorges Reservoir Area in Northeast Chongqing, and Wuling Mountain Area in Southeast Chongqing signed 151, 23 and 15 projects respectively, becoming an important support for driving high-quality development across the whole city.

On May 20, 2026, at Chongqing International Expo Center, the staff are debugging the general-purpose embodied intelligent robots at the Chongqing Pavilion.

 

Boost economic and trade empowerment, achieve remarkable outcomes in investment attraction

Ties of cooperation become closer

 

This session of Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade adheres to the positioning of “rooted in Western China, coordinated with the whole nation, and oriented to the world”, continuously amplifies Chongqing’s advantage as a comprehensive inland opening-up hub, deepens the whole chain of investment promotion, project signing and industrial matchmaking, and promotes the aggregation of high-quality capital, high-end technologies and competitive industries in Western China. The economic and trade cooperation projects feature high quality, large investment scale, and strong industrial compatibility.

Chain complementation and strengthening achieves remarkable results

The signed and settled projects are concentrated in the key fields such as intelligent connected new energy vehicles, new-generation electronic information, and biomedicine. Among all signed projects, there are 87 projects for three 1-trillion-Yuan leading industries and 51 projects for three 500-billion-Yuan pillar industries; there are 25 projects for six 100-billion-Yuan characteristic competitive industrial clusters and 5 projects for 18 “rising star” industrial clusters, which will effectively enrich the manufacturing layout in Chongqing.

Hold private events for communication and precise empowerment

The “List of Investment Opportunities in Chongqing” is released innovatively to announce the development opportunities to the whole world for the first time. In the list, there are 277 high quality projects with a total investment of RMB 579.46 billion Yuan, accurately covering five core fields including modern manufacturing, scientific and technological innovation, new energy, inland opening-up, and urban governance.

 

Make special efforts on promotion of foreign investment

The “Implementation and Development Proposal of ‘Artificial Intelligence + Manufacturing’ in Chongqing” was published, and two special matchmaking sessions were held for creation of the life health science and innovation highland in Western China and integrated development of western industry and green upgrading. The “2025 Western China Foreign Investment Confidence Index Report” was released, Hunan was admitted as a new member to the Western China Foreign Investment Enterprise Association Alliance, and more than 50 foreign-funded enterprises were invited to visit districts and counties of Chongqing and reach investment and procurement cooperation intentions. During the Fair, 5 projects from Fortune Global 500 enterprises were successfully signed.

On the afternoon of May 21, the special event of “AI + Manufacturing” Supply and Demand Matchmaking in Chongqing was held at Chongqing International Expo Center.

 

Expand space for trade development through conference exchanges.

More than 20 countries and hundreds of overseas enterprises were connected to build an efficient and precise bridge for cross-border industrial cooperation. The “2026 Chongqing Economic and Trade Cooperation Matchmaking Meeting with New Silk Road Countries” was held, involving more than 30 institutions from 9 countries including Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The procurement intention amounting to RMB 1.2 billion Yuan was reached on the spot, and Chongqing Council for Promotion of International Trade signed the memorandums of cooperation with 4 overseas institutions including the SCO Countries Civil Diplomatic Center of Russia and the Uzbekistan National Energy Association.

 

At the matchmaking meeting for “going global” coordinated development of new energy vehicle industrial chain, the Chongqing Land-Sea Economic and Trade Promotion Center was inaugurated and established. The friendship city cooperation and economic & trade matchmaking meeting was successfully held. At the China-Singapore (Chongqing) whole-process digital cross-border trade project roadshow, 2 innovative practice cases were released and 9 cooperation agreements were signed.

 

 

The leadership of scientific and technological innovation is strengthened, and the release of dynamic impetus for intelligent manufacturing is accelerated

New quality productive forces are growing vigorously

The current session of the Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade takes scientific and technological innovation as the core engine for cultivation and development of new quality productive forces, lays emphasis on the key links including cutting-edge technology research, implementation of scientific and technological innovation projects, digital-intelligent integration empowerment, and innovation of ecosystem formation, promotes the in-depth integration of innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain and talent chain, continuously activates the endogenous driving force for industrial iteration, and accelerates the transformation of western industries towards intelligence, high-end development and greenization.

 

Cutting-edge technologies make a collective debut.  

 

The core one-stage end-to-end autonomous driving technology of “Tianshu Intelligence” was released with great fanfare. A number of hard-core technological products were unveiled collectively, including the world’s first hybrid unmanned transport aircraft Caihong YH-1000S, the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) space-air information equipment, and the unmanned logistics vehicles. Several products such as Qingling® heavy-duty trucks with liquid hydrogen fuel cells made their world premiere, fully demonstrating the achievements of cutting-edge scientific and technological innovation breakthroughs in Western China. The low-altitude application scenarios such as plant protection drones and electric manned aircraft jointly outline the vigorous momentum of Chongqing creating a low-altitude economic industrial ecosystem.

 

Scientific and technological innovation projects are implemented intensively

 

The key projects including Yuhai Precision’s global innovation headquarters base and R&D and production of precision structural parts for AI servers have been signed and settled. These projects will build a scientific and technological innovation industrial system integrating R&D and design, test verification and manufacturing, continuously improve the “416” scientific and technological innovation layout in Chongqing, and extend the innovation value chain of Western China. Nine industry leaders including CATL and Dongfang Electric have implemented projects, making contribution to expand and improve the quality of Chengdu-Chongqing hydrogen corridor, electricity corridor and intelligent walking corridor. 19 software and information enterprises signed the contracts for settlement at the special session of the “Starry Sky” Action Plan, which will provide more than 3,000 jobs for the software and information industry in Chongqing.

 

On May 22, 2026, the special signing event for the “Starry Sky” Action Plan for Software and Information Service Industry in Chongqing was held at Chongqing Yuelai International Conference Center.

 

Professional services deliver strong empowerment.

Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Tibet jointly signed the “Chongqing Initiative for Collaborative Development of Inspection, Testing and Certification”, and issued the “2025 Western China New Land-Sea Corridor Development Index Report”.

On the afternoon of May 21, five provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) including Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Tibet jointly signed the “Chongqing Initiative for Collaborative Development of Inspection, Testing and Certification among Five Southwestern Provinces (Municipalities and Autonomous Regions)”.

 

Hold conferences for the masses, with the “vitality dividend” benefiting Chongqing

Consumption promotion boosts new vitality

 

The current session of the Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade adheres to the hosting purpose of “exhibitions empowering industries and achievements benefiting people’s livelihood”, breaks away from the traditional model of “simply holding exhibitions and simply attracting investment”, and focuses on the key tasks of expanding domestic demand, boosting consumption and benefiting people’s livelihood, so as to drive consumption growth with exhibition flow and activate market potential with high-quality supply, making the Fair full of vitality of daily life.

Experience global quality goods at one stop.

For the first time, the “Preferential Treatment Handbook of Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade” was issued, covering the exclusive benefits for catering, shopping and travel across the city. In the international exhibition area, the featured high-quality products from more than 30 countries and regions were gathered. At the “360 Bowls of Chongqing Cuisines” Carnival, the characteristic cuisines from more than 10 countries and the local snacks from 12 provinces and cities in Western China were presented on the same stage, and the authentic delicacies from 36 districts and counties such as Wanzhou Grilled Fish, Qianjiang Chicken Giblets, Hot Pot and Noodles were gathered together.

Events stimulate consumption potential.

The grand one-stop debut carnival of intelligent connected new energy vehicles “Hi SHOW · Meet Wonderful Vehicles in Chongqing” was launched, gathering nearly 20 mainstream automobile brands such as Changan, NIO and Qingling, creating an immersive scene extending from static display to dynamic experience, from new product launch to test driving and appreciation. The cultural and tourism promotion activities were held to centrally display the list of investment opportunities for cultural and tourism industry in Chongqing, collect 186 key cultural and tourism investment projects, connect the high-quality routes of Sichuan-Chongqing cultural and tourism corridor, and present the characteristic cultural and tourism IPs of various districts and counties collectively, vividly showing the beautiful mountains and rivers and cultural charm of Chongqing.

On May 20, 2026, AITO M9 and Chang’an Flying Car were exhibited at the Chongqing Pavilion of Chongqing International Expo Center.

 

‌Diversified business formats renew the scenario.‌

 

The 2026 “Cloud Marketplace of Chongqing Products” E-commerce Resource Matchmaking Conference was successfully held, gathering more than 700 brand enterprises and more than 3,200 featured products from Western China, attracting more than 100 leading MCN institutions, more than 200 streamers and influencers, and more than 200 upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain from the country. On the spot, the “Digital Commerce Connecting All Products, Quality Goods Shining in Western China” selection program of good products in Western China launched by 100 national MCN institutions was released, and 7 major digital business cooperation projects including the construction of Chongqing-Hangzhou cross-regional e-commerce collaborative development platform were signed, driving more featured western products to benefit people and enter the national market.

 

 

He Ya presided over the Briefing on Achievements 

 

Source: Chongqing Release