Why Chengdu?
Earlier this month I was in Chengdu, China, to attend a business conference and having done some research on this city, my expectations were well met. It is a booming city with all the visible traces of development on display. High-rise towers in place and under construction, the most expensive cars on the road, like BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Porsche, Lexus, Volvo, Cadillac, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Rolls-Royce. Then there are all the designer outlets like Prada, Cartier, Alexander McQueen, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and all other high-end stores. I was staying at Niccolo hotel, which is the premium hotel of the Marco Polo group, and from the 17th floor I could see seven high-rise buildings from the west side picture window. This city of 18 million people and 4 million cars really has the purchasing power to support this bustling city.
Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province located in the northwestern part of China. It is an ancient city that claimed to have existed 4,000 years ago. It also claimed to have built the first irrigation system in 250 B.C., the first natural gas utility, the first brocade weaving machine in 220 A.D., the first relief printing and the first paper money in 960 A.D. It has always been an important city that during the Tang Dynasty, Chengdu was considered the second most prosperous city in China, and one of the primary food production areas. Due to the historical prominence and productivity of Chengdu, when China moved to capitalist communism in the 1980s, Chengdu was one of the biggest beneficiaries as it had the human and productive resources that could absorb the massive investments from the government and from local/foreign investors.
Fast forward to 2015, the nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the city was $163.7 billion and the GDP/capita was at $12,019. The Philippine GDP at this time was some $320 billion which was twice that of Chengdu but our GDP/capita was $2,400, which is one-fifth of Chengdu as our population was 100 million as against their 16 million then. But remember that the Philippines is a country and Chengdu is just one of the larger cities of China. Comparing Chengdu with Metro Manila, which by 2017 would also have 18 million people, would still show that the per capita GDP of Chengdu would be four times that of Metro Manila. So, we can see the relative prosperity and purchasing power of the Metro Manilans vis-a-vis the Chenduans.
Chengdu has a fairly balanced economy with agriculture and industry as major components. Machinery, trucks/automobile and electronics production are complemented by food and medicines, then the service industries of tourism, banking, and information technology grow and boost the economy. They have a 100-meter tall New Century Global Centre with 1,700,000 square meters that has 14 theatres, offices, hotels, waterpark, artificial beach, skating rink, pirate ship, a Mediterranean village, an artificial sun, and a 15,000-car parking lot. There are 49 colleges and universities in the city, and 260 of the Fortune 500 companies have branch offices in the city. It has become the top investment destination city in China.
The lesson that we can learn from Chengdu's success is the importance of foreign investments to jumpstart the economy, therefore improve the ease of doing business and improve our government reputation, the right infrastructure investments, progressive educational institutions, and ecological/cultural considerations.
Addendum: Cebu City is a sister city of Chengdu, Sichuan Province has the same population as the whole Philippines of 110 million in 2017. The Panda Park and Research Center is a must-see tourist destination.
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