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Overview of Sichuan Province
Updated:2024.03.22

Sichuan, Chuan for short, is located in southwest China and on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. It has long been known as the "Land of Abundance". The province covers a total area of 486,000 square kilometers, ranking 5th in China. It has jurisdiction over 21 cities (autonomous prefectures) and 183 counties (county-level cities and districts), and borders seven provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government), including Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, and Shaanxi. Sichuan is the largest inhabited area of the Yi ethnic group, the second-largest inhabited area of the Tibetan ethnic group, and the only inhabited area of the Qiang ethnic group. In 2023, the province's regional GDP exceeded six trillion yuan, up 6%; fiscal revenue increased by 13.3%, value-added industrial output grew by 6.1%, fixed-asset investment rose by 4.4%, and total retail sales of consumer goods went up by 9.2%. At the end of the year, the province had a permanent resident population of 83.68 million and a household registered population of 90.714 million.

Sichuan has a long history and time-honored cultures. During the Pre-Qin Dynasty, Sichuan was the territory of the Ba and Shu states; in the Northern Song Dynasty, Chuanxia Road was built in the present Sichuan area and then divided into Yizhou Road, Zizhou Road, Lizhou Road, and Kuizhou Road, which were collectively referred to as Sichuan Road. Since then, the area has been called "Sichuan". Sichuan is one of the birthplaces of Chinese Taoism, the cradle of ancient Shu civilization, and the place where "Jiaozi" — the earliest banknote in the world — was born. Sichuan Brocade and Sichuan Shadow Play have been included in UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. Sichuan's salt industry culture and wine culture are long-standing and well-established; its Three Kingdoms culture, Red Army culture, and Ba People culture are brilliant with profound connotations; its ancient Shu civilization represented by Sanxingdui Site and Jinsha Site is especially resplendent and mysterious. Currently, Sichuan has 262 key cultural relics sites under state protection, 1,214 cultural relics sites under provincial protection, 153 items on the representative list of state-level intangible cultural heritage items, and 1,132 provincial-level intangible cultural heritage items.

Sichuan is rich in natural resources. It has three world natural heritage sites (Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area, Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area, Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries), one world cultural heritage site (Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System), and one world cultural and natural heritage site (Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area). In addition, Sichuan boasts 939 national A-class tourist scenic spots, including 17 5A-class ones. The province has vigorously promoted green transformation of the development mode, and achieved remarkable results in the construction of a pilot zone for building a Beautiful China. The water quality of all the 203 surface water sections under national monitoring program is excellent, and the water quality of the main streams of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River remains stable at Grade II. The province endeavors to make more progress in the consolidation of ecological shields along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River.

Sichuan is strong in science and education. As one of the eight national pilot zones for comprehensive innovation and reform, the province has a number of major regional innovation platforms such as China (Sichuan) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the national independent innovation demonstration zone in Chengdu, Tianfu New Area, China (Mianyang) Science and Technology City, and Panxi Strategic Resource Innovation Pilot Zone. Sichuan has built 22,000 schools of all kinds at all levels, including 137 higher education institutions. There are also 369 research institutes, 205 national sci-tech innovation platforms, and 10 national large-scale scientific facilities. The number of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering in Sichuan increased by five to reach 67.

The industrial system is complete in Sichuan. Sichuan, as one of the three major power equipment manufacturing bases and one of the four major electronic information industry bases in China, has three national strategic emerging industry clusters and three national advanced manufacturing industry clusters. Four industry clusters of the province have been selected as national characteristic industry clusters for small and medium-sized enterprises, and Chengdu, Deyang, Mianyang and Yibin have been selected as one of the top 100 cities of advanced manufacturing industries in China. Ten scenarios of Sichuan have been selected as the national AI-empowered scenarios, and Dongfang Electric Corporation and Sichuan Changhong have been selected as national cross-industry and cross-domain industrial Internet platforms. A total of 46,000 new 5G base stations have been built, and the gigabit optical networks have covered 55 million households. Sichuan is promoting the specialized and high-end development of productive service industries such as modern logistics, modern finance, and scientific and technological information, enhancing the quality of living service industries such as commercial trade, culture, sports, tourism, medical care, and health services, and strengthening the leading role of emerging service industries such as big data services, human resources services, ecological environmental protection services, and professional services.

Sichuan has developed convenient transportation facilities. There are 48 channels connecting the province and other places. The annual passenger throughput of Chengdu's international aviation hubs is nearly 75 million, ranking third in China; the cargo throughput reaches 767,000 tons, ranking sixth in China. The direct high-speed train from Chengdu to Hong Kong has been officially put into operation, and the number of trips of China Railway Express trains (Chengdu &Chongqing) maintained its first place in China.

The year 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and it is a key year to achieve the goals and tasks set out in the 14th Five-Year Plan. The CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and the People's Government of Sichuan Province firmly follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully apply the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, and thoroughly study and implement the gist of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on Sichuan's work. They uphold the underlying principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, fully, accurately and comprehensively apply the new development philosophy, actively integrate into and serve the creation of a new development paradigm, strive to promote high-quality development, earnestly implement the deployment and requirements of the 12th Sichuan Provincial Party Congress, all plenary sessions of the 12th CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and the Economic Work Conference of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee, vigorously advance the construction of Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, deeply implement the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee's strategy of "synchronized development of new industrialization, information technology application, urbanization, and agricultural modernization; urban-rural integration; and common prosperity of five zones", comprehensively deepen reform and opening-up, and reinforce the driving force of sci-tech innovation. In addition, they coordinate the expansion of domestic demand and the deepening of the supply-side structural reform, coordinate new urbanization and all-around rural revitalization, coordinate high-quality development and high-level security, effectively enhance economic vitality, prevent and resolve risks, improve social expectations, consolidate and strengthen the momentum of economic recovery, continue to effectively upgrade and appropriately expand the province's economic output, improve people's wellbeing, maintain social stability, and strive to write a new chapter for the province in advancing Chinese modernization.

 
 
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