Construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle has made achievements over the past five years, and the circle will continue to strengthen cross-regional collaboration in various areas down the road, officials said at a news conference on Thursday in Beijing.

The economic circle is committed to creating a modern industrial system with efficient division of labor, orderly competition and regional integration, and has provided industrial support and platform construction to promote the deep integration of the upstream and downstream segments of the industrial chain, said Li Wenqing, vice-governor of Sichuan province.

"Looking ahead, we will further develop leading industries, build a modern industrial system and cultivate future industries such as artificial intelligence, low-altitude economy and commercial aerospace to provide strong support for improving the development quality," said Li.

By the end of 2024, the regional GDP of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle is expected to grow to 8.6 trillion yuan ($1.2 trillion), accounting for more than 6.5 percent of the country's GDP, while five years ago, the regional GDP was less than 6.3 trillion yuan, said the National Development and Reform Commission.

Chengdu, capital of Sichuan — alongside the municipality of Chongqing — have built four major industrial clusters focused on electronic information, equipment manufacturing, advanced materials, and products with local characteristics. The output value of the electronic information industry accounts for more than 10 percent of the national level, services catering to production, as well as modern agriculture have developed at an accelerated pace, said Chen Yajun, deputy secretary-general of the NDRC.

Sichuan and Chongqing will jointly promote regional market integration, actively explore institutional mechanisms for urban-rural integration, vigorously build the digital Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, and continue to promote the integration of public services, said Chen Xinwu, vice-mayor of Chongqing.

"We will accelerate the construction of Chengdu-Chongqing connectivity infrastructure projects, promote cross-regional industry cooperation and the sharing of innovation resources, and jointly improve the level of public services connectivity, focusing on the areas of transport, industry, technology, finance and public services," said Cao Junjie, vice-mayor of Chengdu.

Chongqing and Chengdu will speed up the transformation of development modes, cultivate modern metropolitan areas, promote urbanization, improve coordinated development of large and medium-sized cities and increase support for less-developed surrounding areas, thus constantly improving regional coordinated development, the NDRC's Chen said.

The policy will support technological innovation and the application of the technological achievements in Sichuan province and Chongqing, striving to build a modern industrial system, promote the training of talent and increase innovation vitality, he said.

The construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing comprehensive science center has been fully launched. A number of national key laboratories have been restructured and the technology resource sharing platform has been launched, with 12 high-tech zones having established strategic alliances for collaborative innovation, he added.

Tan Guoling contributed to this story.