Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing are undoubtedly popular and powerful, but no longer China's fastest growing cities. There are several lesser-known, emerging cities that are developing at lightning speeds--but none of them quite like Chongqing. Unless you have personal or business ties in China, chances are you've probably not heard of Chongqing.
Located on the Yangtze, some 900 miles inland, it's the heart and economic engine of southwest China. Its metropolitan region (municipality) has the population of California crammed into an area the size of South Carolina. Despite its massive size and growth, it still has a long way to go, making it one of China's best investment destinations.
Statistics show that Chongqing is not only the fastest growing urban area in China, but perhaps in all the world. An estimated half million people move to Chongqing's urban core annually. So you can imagine that the local real estate market is expanding fast, giving investors great opportunities. Chongqing's real estate sales area (total space within the market) and the value of its real estate market grew by roughly 38% and 64% respectively since 2008. Unlike most cities, Chongqing has already recovered from the real estate market slump as both home prices and second-hand home prices grew by 0.2% and 3.1% respectively this year.
With an expanding and robust economy, there's no wonder why the city's population is booming. From January to June 2009, local economic growth stood at an enviable 12.6%, slightly less than last year's 14% increase.
As China's automobile sales continue to climb at over 20% annually, Chongqing will certainly benefit. It's one of four major automobile manufacturers and one of the largest industrial metals producers in the country. In fact Chongqing is becoming both the Detroit and Pittsburgh of China. For instance, Ford Motor Company's largest Chinese plant is located in Chongqing and over one-third of all China's motorcycles are produced here as well. Thanks to a growing demand for Chinese exports, Chongqing Iron & Steel Company is set to become the largest shipbuilding steel producer in China by 2010.
This mega city is also becoming the new Silicon Valley of the East. Recently, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Foxconn Technology Group announced their joint $ 3 B investment in a laptop manufacturing hub in the heart of Chongqing. The news follows closely behind the local government's announcement that the city will host China's first 3G Technology Park, which includes major IBM and Infineon manufacturing operations.
Manufacturing is only half of what is presently driving Chongqing's growth. The city is a growing center of both research and finance. Chonqing is known for its research in traditional medicine, contemporary pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. Moreover, the government plans to make Chongqing a major financial hub by 2015 with the building of the Chongqing Financial Center in the Jiangbeizui business district.
To keep up with Chongqing's growth of commerce, an astonishing 1.5 million square feet of office space is added each year. This includes more commercial skyscrapers in the pipeline than anywhere else in China. The following are presently under construction:
- Jialing Fanying, 468 m, 105 floors (pictured at right)
- ASE Center R6 at 463 m, 88 floors
- Sun Valley Tianhe Tower 450 m, 95 floors
- Chongqing International Financial Center, 431 m, 102 floors
- Financial Street, 430 m, 81 floors
- Chongqing Global Financial Building, 331 m 81 floors
- Lanko International Mansion, 330 m, 72 floors
- ASE Center R5, 320 m, 61 floors
- Yingli Tower, 318 m, 72 floors (pictured at right)
- Poly International Plaza, 300 m, 60 floors
Huge investment in transportation and general infrastructure is underway with the building of several dozen subway lines as well as thousands of miles of roads and highways, including the completion of over 900 miles of highways by the end of 2009 alone. There's also a new airport terminal in the works, a new railway container terminal, an inland free trade zone--well, the list goes on from here.
Now you get the idea that Chongqing still has a long way to go, and its astounding rate of growth provides ample investor opportunities.
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