Xinhua News Agency, Chongqing, June 18th (reporters Liu Kang and Huang Huo) - On June 18th, 1997, the municipality of Chongqing officially unveiled its establishment. A People's Congress representative wrote in his diary: "This day seemed like a century-long wait for Chongqing..."
From being the earliest inland port to open up to foreign trade in 1891, to becoming the "wartime capital" during the Anti-Japanese War, the "Southwest Bureau" at the founding of the People's Republic of China, and a planned single-listed city during the reform and opening-up period, Chongqing's status has experienced several rises and falls. At the turn of the century, with the development of the Yangtze River economic belt, the construction of the Three Gorges Project, the relocation and reconstruction of a million people, and especially the implementation of the Western Development Strategy, Chongqing was pushed to the intersection of major national modernization strategies.
As early as at the beginning of the reform and opening-up, Deng Xiaoping clearly proposed the strategic thought of the "two overall situations": one overall situation is that the eastern coastal areas should accelerate their opening up to the outside world and develop first, while the central and western regions should accommodate this overall situation; another overall situation is that when development reaches a certain stage, more efforts should be made to help the central and western regions accelerate their development, and the eastern coastal areas should also accommodate this overall situation.
The direct administration of Chongqing is both a product of this strategic thought and a major strategic decision made by China to accelerate the economic and social development of the central and western regions. Looking at the regional economic map of China, Chongqing has always been the largest economic center and important transportation hub in southwestern China and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, playing an important role in bridging the east and west and connecting the north and south. It has dual gathering and dispersing functions for the Yangtze River economic belt and the western region. Choosing Chongqing as the "strategic fulcrum" to promote the transformation of China's development landscape is undoubtedly a historical inevitability.
On February 27, 1997, then Premier Li Peng particularly pointed out in the proposal submitted by the State Council to the National People's Congress: "Establishing Chongqing as a municipality directly under the Central Government is an important measure to accelerate the economic and social development of the central and western regions."
On March 6, then State Councilor Li Guiyan further explained this proposal to the Fifth Session of the Eighth National People's Congress and elaborated on three main reasons for establishing Chongqing as a municipality directly under the Central Government: leveraging Chongqing's locational advantages to radiate influence over southwestern China and drive the development of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River; facilitating the resolution of difficulties caused by Sichuan's excessive population and overly large administrative divisions in terms of administration and development; aiding in the construction of the Three Gorges Project and completing the relocation task.
Scholars studying regional economics generally believe that Chongqing's leapfrog development over the past decade fully proves that the establishment of Chongqing as a municipality directly under the Central Government is a brilliant move in China's regional strategic layout, initiating a new journey toward balanced and coordinated development of China's regional economy.
After becoming a municipality, Chongqing plays a pivotal role in the transfer of international and coastal industries to inland areas. The "Chongqing sector" connects with the "Yangtze River Delta" via the golden waterway of the Yangtze River and links with the "Pearl River Delta" through the southwest sea route, serving as a strategic support in the expansion of China's economic layout into inland areas.