The State Council has approved a national territorial spatial plan for Chongqing for the 2021-2035 period, according to an official reply published on Feb 26.

Chongqing, one of the four municipalities directly under central government control, holds significant importance as a major city in China, a national historical and cultural city, and an international comprehensive transportation hub.

According to the reply, by 2035, the total area of cultivated land in Chongqing should be no less than 26.64 million mu, of which the protection area for permanent basic farmland will be no less than 20.64 million mu, and the red line area for ecological protection should not be less than 19,200 square kilometers.

The document emphasized the need to promote the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, strengthen functional interaction with neighboring provinces and cities, making the joint effort to build a new land-sea corridor in the western region, to play a crucial role in advancing the large-scale development of the western region in the new era, promoting the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" and enhancing the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Measures should be taken to accelerate the construction of an urban system with regional coordination and integration of urban and rural areas, improve the ecological functions of the Three Gorges reservoir area, expand the space for agricultural production, and optimize the layout of facility agriculture and urban agriculture, said the reply.

Meanwhile, the reply stressed the necessity to create a favorable living environment and cultivate modern manufacturing clusters in Chongqing. The overall protection and systematic activation and utilization of cultural and natural heritages should also be strengthened.