Bo Xilai, the Chongqing Party chief and deputy to the National People’s Congress announced that Chongqing would now have a duty-free zone and said Chongqing has lagged behind the other three municipalities directly governed by the State Council – namely Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai – in economic development, but it is the only one of these municipalities located in inland China.
He said, the establishment of a tariff-free zone in Chongqing marks a big opportunity for the opening-up of China’s inland cities.
China Daily reported that Bo also announced that last year several major IT companies like Hewlett-Packard, Foxconn and Intel have signed big contracts with Chongqing to produce over 80 million laptops, which has greatly contributed to Chongqing’s economic development and exports.