Chongqing: Opportunities and risks

The separation of Chongqing from Sichuan and its promotion to a municipality directly subordinated to central government, as well as its inclusion in the area for the campaign to Open Up the West, have helped Chongqing position itself well ahead of many other inland Chinese industrial cities. Increased central funding has helped Chongqing to survive the social, political and economic consequences of the large-scale relocation programme attached to the Three Gorges Reservoir area and the dramatic restructure of state-owned industries. The future of Chongqing, however, depends on how long the current proactive fiscal policy of the central government will last and how quickly Chongqing can establish sustained economic development under socialist market conditions.