How an Inland City Became One of China’s Top 5 Economies by ANDAMAN PARTNERS Co-Founder Rachel Wu

Hello everyone, Rachel from ANDAMAN PARTNERS, on the ground in Chongqing, China.

Chongqing is one of China’s four municipalities, and the country’s largest city by population. It has almost 32 million people, well ahead of Shanghai at 25 million and Beijing at 22 million.

Chongqing sits in western China, and on 2025 full-year GDP, its economy ranked number four among Chinese cities, behind only Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen. It overtook Guangzhou, capital of export powerhouse Guangdong Province, in 2024, and widened that lead in 2025.

How did an inland city pull this off? By turning itself from a traditional industry base into a modern manufacturing hub, led by smart EVs and electronics.

What about AI? Chongqing’s AI play isn’t about chatbots. It’s betting on what it does the best: making things. The plan is to put AI into the cars, robots and devices coming off its production lines, and aims to become the national leader in applying AI to manufacturing.

In my next video, I’ll look at how Chongqing serves as the operations centre of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, connecting western China to Southeast Asia and beyond.

Happy to share more, and let’s connect!