BEIJING, Jan. 9 -- Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, and neighboring Chongqing Municipality are emerging as dynamic locations leading high-quality development in the country's western region, officials said Thursday.

The Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone is expected to have achieved a regional GDP of 8.6 trillion yuan (about 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2024, accounting for over 6.5 percent of the country's total, with the proportion up from 6.3 percent in 2020 when the plan for the economic zone was unveiled, Chen Yajun, deputy secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told a press conference. Data confirming 2024 GDP figures for this region has not yet been released.

With a population of more than 98 million, the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone is another important regional development initiative in China. It follows similar strategies in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The country aims to build the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone into an important engine of growth for leading high-quality development in its western region.

During the past five years, these two regions have stepped up efforts to co-build large industrial clusters focused on electronic information, equipment manufacturing, advanced materials, and locally distinctive consumer goods -- achieving impressive progress, according to Chen.

This economic zone accounts for over 10 percent of China's auto production and electronic information industrial output, NDRC data has shown.

Li Wenqing, vice governor of Sichuan Province, said two-thirds of the world's iPads, nearly 80 million laptops and more than 100 million smartphones are produced in Chengdu and Chongqing.

The two regions have also enhanced collaboration in promoting technological innovation, unifying market access standards, developing a mechanism for joint environment inspections, and improving public services during the past five years, Chen said.