A crowded night view of a pedestrian street in Chongqing. [Photo/IC]

From January to February, Chongqing municipality in Southwest China recorded an increase of 13 percent in added value growth for industries above a designated size, and a 5.4-percent surge in total retail sales of consumer goods, according to a recent economic symposium.

Meanwhile, two-digit growth was achieved in the number of new market entities, contract amount of investment and business projects, as well as foreign investment in actual use. By March 18, 280 out of 877 municipal-level projects had been launched.

Although the figures indicate a good start to the year for Chongqing, uncertainties inflicted by the arduous epidemic situation and the unpredictable global climate cannot be ignored. As far as Chongqing is concerned, even bigger challenges exist in key product manufacturing and research of automobiles, laptops, ICs, and liquid crystal displays.

In this regard, the meeting rolled out eight policies to stabilize the economy: expanding effective investments; maintaining growth momentum in industrial sectors; prioritizing consumption; stabilizing the fundamentals of foreign trade; keeping a close eye on spring ploughing, focusing on market entities; intensifying efforts to introduce new businesses and investment; and enhancing risk hedge and prevention.

In prioritizing consumption, for example, the government is expected to make full use of the policy support from the Ministry of Commerce, and arrange more consumption festivals and promotional activities to boost local sales.

Measures will be put in place to further unleash new purchasing demand, and to cultivate new online consumption scenarios in entertainment, sports, education, and healthcare. Moreover, Chongqing will issue supporting policies to respond to the national call to activate consumption market players.