The Liangjiang New Area in Chongqing is China's third national-level development zone, after Pudong New Area in Shanghai and Binhai New Area in Tianjin, and the only one in an inland location. Its creation in June last year illustrates the emphasis of China's development strategy, which has moved from the south (Shenzhen and Pearl River Delta opened in early 1980s) to coastal areas (Pudong in the 1990s and Binhai in the following decade), and now inland. Created by combining some existing and newly developed zones, the Liangjiang New Area is located at the north of the city proper and east of the Jialing River. Covering part of three administrative districts and two new areas, it has a total planned area of 1,200 square kilometres, one-half of which has already been used by various industries. The Jiangbeizui financial district, which is also incorporated into the new area, has been designated as the regional financial centre on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The new area is divided into five zones, each for the development of a specific industry. They are the financial and service industry zone, which includes Jiangbeizui and is the core of the new area; the high and new technology industry zone; the city economic industry zone; the logistics and processing industry zone; and the advanced manufacturing industry zone. In addition to preferential policies in the Shanghai Pudong and Tianjin Binhai new areas, investors in Liangjiang can enjoy preferential policies under the central government's Western China Development Programme, which aims to reform and co-ordinate urban-rural development. Major policies include a 15 per cent corporate tax rate for enterprises under the 'encouraged category' until 2020, preferential land use and a settlement allowance for the headquarters of large enterprises. The Chongqing Changke Urban Rail Transportation Traffic Company at the Yufu Industrial Park is one of the major firms already operating in the new area. The company is the supplier of monorail vehicles for the city's rail transit system. With an investment of 800 million yuan (HK$957 million), it has assembled vehicles in its 75,000-square-metre plant since 2009. It has a capacity of 250 vehicles a year, to be increased to 300 next year. Last year, the new area recorded a gross domestic product of 105.5 billion yuan, accounting for 13.4 per cent of Chongqing's total, with industrial value of 205.9 billion yuan. Foreign investment was US$1.59 billion and foreign trade US$4 billion. Its GDP is expected to reach 320 billion yuan by 2015, with the total population increasing from 1.6 million to 3 million.
