Chongqing High-tech Industrial Development Zone was established in March 1991 under the approval of the State Council as one of the first batch of 27 national-level hi-tech zones. It became a national innovation demonstration zone in 2016 and was part of China (Chongqing) Pilot Free Trade Zone.
Covering an area of 74.3 square kilometers, the zone has formed a good industrial base, gained strong technical forces and built up perfect supporting facilities. It was awarded as the national advanced hi-tech zone, and the national hi-tech industry standardization demonstration area, and is a national software industrial base, a national biological industrial base, a hi-tech service industrial base, and a technological innovation base.
In 2017, the zone achieved a year-on-year growth of 9.7 percent in its GDP, a 26.5 percent increase in its total industrial output value of the enterprises with an annual output value above 20 million yuan ($2.9 million), and a 15.3 percent growth in its fixed-asset investment. The retail sales of consumer goods increased by 9.1 percent compared to that of the previous year while the revenue in the general public budgets rose by 9.5 percent.
At present, the total investment in technical research and development accounted for 4.6 percent of the zone's GDP, 2.6 times that of the city's average investment. The number of invention patents for every 10,000 people in the zone reached 25. The total number of newly founded hi-tech enterprises in the zone and that of the new hi-tech products both ranked first in the city.