The Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster is a vital platform for the development of China’s western region, and a strategic anchor in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone as well as an important demonstration area for the country to advance new-type urbanization, said Premier Li Keqiang at the executive meeting of the State Council on March 30.

The Premier emphasized in this year’s government work report that one of the major targets and measures during the 13th Five-Year Plan period is to advance new-type urbanization and agricultural modernization, and promote a coordinated development between China’s urban and rural areas.

The meeting passed a plan for the development of Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster. As for the development of city clusters in China, Premier Li brought up four requirements:

He said we need to find a new path to achieve the common progress of new-type urbanization and agricultural modernization.

The development plan for the Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster is the first such plan concerning cross-provincial city cluster in the country’s western region, said Premier Li, adding that China’s overall layout on urbanization development should include not only city clusters in Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, but also city clusters in the central and western regions. With an added population of up to 100 million, Chengdu and Chongqing should strive to find a new path of new-type urbanization and agricultural modernization to achieve mutual progress, said the Premier.

The Premier stressed that we should also conduct research on how to break the “Heihe–Tengchong Line” (a geo-demographic demarcation line that divides the country into two parts, with the west of the line having a bigger area, but with a sparse population, while east of the line is the opposite). He added that we need to find a way to develop the middle and western regions as they have huge potential and great significance.

Premier Li then urged coordinated development between large, medium and small-sized cities and small towns. And the Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster should also explore its development in this respect. In terms of urbanization, he called for good planning for balanced development.

The Premier also urged fostering new momentum. The Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster should not only undertake the industrial transformation of the east, but the cluster itself should also advance the new economy and foster new momentum, in order to boost employment and consumption, said the Premier. The new momentum should be driven by innovation through mass entrepreneurship to broaden the new space of economic growth, he said.

And last, Premier Li stressed that development in the western region is also its opening-up. The western region should further expand its opening-up, bolster China-foreign industrial cooperation and the construction of innovative platform by relying on the Yangtze River golden waterway and railway, highway network to break through the channels connecting to the outside.