Chengdu is the most important city in West and Central China. It is considered as the center of logistics, business, finance, science and technology, and a hub of transportation and communication in Southwest China. Its comprehensive strength ranked top among the big and middle cities in China; its industrial and commercial output value ranking sixth in China. In 2011, Chengdu’s GDP reached RMB 685 billion with an annual increase of 15%, ranking first among capital cities in West China and ninth in the country. Since its opening up in 1991, Chengdu has kept on double digits GDP increase year-on-year.
In 2000 the central government launched a vast program to develop China’s inner land economies with the objective of promoting equality throughout the country. Chengdu largely benefited from this program with new large scale investments in infrastructure, education and healthcare among others. As a result, Chengdu has gained in business attractiveness and turned into the preferred location for foreign investment in West China - cumulating a total of 207 Fortune Global 500 enterprises with a presence in the city, including companies such as Intel, Corning, Motorola, Siemens, Nokia, Alcatel, Ericsson, IBM, Hitachi, Sony, GE, Cisco, Toyota, UPS, SAP and Fujitsu.
Chengdu is the biggest finance center in West China with 13 international trading banks: HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, J.P Morgan, OCBC Bank, ABN AMRO, Bank of East Asia, Nanyang Commercial Bank, United Overseas Bank and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Chengdu has become the fourth behind Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in the international banking stakes in China.