CHONGQING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality have inked a working plan to push forward the development of the largest city cluster in western China, the government of Chongqing said Friday.
The plan, signed on Thursday, is aimed to further develop the Chengdu-Chongqing city cluster consisting of 42 cities, districts and counties in Sichuan and Chongqing.
Covering 185,000 square meters, the city cluster has a population of nearly 100 million.
A development plan for the city cluster was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in April 2016.
Sichuan and Chongqing will jointly set up an office to carry out the cooperation, involving six specific groups -- strategic planning, infrastructure, industry, ecology and environment, opening-up and public service. The office will make plans and implement specific cooperation projects, according to the plan.
Statistics showed the overall economy of the city cluster has increased from 3.76 trillion yuan (547 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014 to nearly 6 trillion yuan in 2018.
Li Jing, dean with the School of Economics of Chongqing Technology and Business University, said the detailed working plan would accelerate the coordinated development of the city cluster, which is expected to become a new pole of growth in China and bring new opportunities for the world and China.
