Since the sixth meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs held on January 3, 2020, Sichuan and Chongqing have taken action to break down barriers, make innovations, and work together.

Over the past year, both sides have signed more than 200 cooperation agreements. New cooperation projects were created almost every day. A number of highlights have emerged in areas such as enhancing transportation infrastructure construction, development of modern industrial systems, capacity for collaborative innovation development, the layout of national space land, eco-environmental protection, institutional innovation, and public service sharing.

Both sides focus on cooperation on major projects. At the end of July 2020, both sides published a list of 31 major projects that were carried out together. So far, 27 major projects have started construction, one completed, and an investment of 35.4 billion yuan (c. 5.5 billion US dollars) have been achieved. On average, more than four major projects started construction per month.

Both sides cooperate for people's well-being. On December 31, 2020, a total of 95 items were accepted and handled in Sichuan and Chongqing. In particular, until the end of November 2020, Sichuan's housing provident fund depositors had applied for a total of 928 housing provident fund loans in Chongqing, amounting to 350 million yuan.

The first Chengdu-Chongqing freight service on the China Europe Railway Express leaves the Chengdu International Rail Port.

On January 1, 2021, China Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) freight trains departed from Chongqing and Chengdu to Germany and Poland. This is a new brand freight train jointly created by Chengdu and Chongqing, and the first of its kind in China.

Standing at the starting line towards 2021, we are confident that the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle will reach a better future at a more steady pace.

(Fan Xingyan, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)