Authors¡G Go Chengdu

The Brookings Institution, an American think tank, released recently the Global Metro Monitor 2018. With a growth rate of 7.2% and 5.9% in per capita GDP and employment respectively, Chengdu ranked third in the world and topped all of its Chinese counterparts.

Based on the data from Oxford Economics, the report employs two indicators including per capita GDP and employment growth rate to assess the comprehensive economic performance of 300 global largest metropolises in the past few years.

According to the report, global metropolitan economies take the lead in global economic aggregate, employment and population with "disproportionate" dominance - the 300 largest metropolitan economies in the world account for nearly half of global output. Researchers from the Brookings Institution describe these metropolises with high concentration of resources in terms of "sub-national dynamics" to highlight their unique role in creating global economic and societal trends.

Analysis shows that, Beijing and Shanghai are no longer the major powerhouses for China's economic growth, while other fourteen cities represented by Chengdu are emerging as new economic growth grounds.

Chengdu is a case in point. The city's rapid rise is largely attributed to its fast-evolving development in infrastructure and key industrial fields. Apart from the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, the Chengdu Tianfu International Airport currently under construction will be a welcoming addition as Chengdu's second airport. It is slated to open to traffic in 2020. By then, Chengdu will become the third city in the Chinese mainland to have two international airports. Moreover, the China Railway Express (Chengdu-Europe Express) has now established a transportation network covering 14 domestic cities and 16 foreign cities, making for a significant traffic hub connecting Asia and Europe.

As to industrial structure, service and electronic information are coming to the fore as Chengdu's pillar industry. According to latest data, in the first half of this year, the added value of Chengdu's service industry hit RMB382.76 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 9.5% and accounting for 55.7% of its GDP. Meanwhile, Chengdu's electronic information industry is also shaping well as a bellwether in helping this city establish a presence in the global economic map. By 2020, Chengdu is expected to achieve a revenue of over RMB1 trillion from the core business of the electronic information sector.

The report concluded that, judging from either urban size or urban scope, China is experiencing the unprecedented urbanization, which also ensures that its cities will play a role in developing and defining its growth mode in infrastructure, technology and economy that is based on China's realities. Due to the important role of Chengdu and other metropolises in global economy, their constant change will exert a crucial impact on global economy, society and environment.