The giant municipality of Chongqing – an economic powerhouse in Southwest China – is widely seen by Asia's entrepreneurs as being inclusive, innovative and energetic. "When Chongqing was beneath my feet in the plane, I felt I was going to land on a highland, it was like a dream that was so real," said Wang Shi, founder of China Vanke Co, a leading city and town developer and service provider in China.

He was talking on May 21 at the 2021 Asia Enterprises of Tomorrow convention, part of the third Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT) held in Chongqing.

"Landing on a highland is actually a metaphor," added Wang. "The feeling is based on what I have already known about Chongqing, including its crucial role in the era of the internet and big data," he explained.

A majority of Asian entrepreneurs present at the convention reportedly shared similar feelings with Wang. Senior executives and entrepreneurs from 54 leading companies from 15 countries and regions around the world took to the stage to discuss how Asian firms are going to cope with the opportunities as well as the challenges they might meet in the future.

It is widely said that culture is a city's background color, in which various economic activities are unfolded. What exactly did entrepreneurs see in the city?

In the eyes of Wang Shi, just as it is vital for a person to maintain his or her curiosity and to grow up by absorbing new knowledge, so is it true for a company or a city. He highlighted Chongqing as a "city of mountains", which somehow contributed to Chongqing residents' noble quality of confronting and resolving challenges, no matter what they are. He said a city like Chongqing is usually tempting to most enterprises to settle there or do business – or both.

A member of the Singapore Institute of Architects, who also does business in Southwest China's Sichuan province, believed that Chongqing is an inclusive city, allowing modern and traditional elements, as well as international and local aspects to co-exist.

"I think Chongqing is energetic and pretty suitable for running businesses," said Zeng Fanzhong, president of Shanghai Huiying Medical Technology Co. "The first thing to consider when you plan to run a business in a certain place is the cost of the factors of production there," Zeng added

Lin Shengcong, a partner in a recruitment consultancy, said labor costs in Chongqing were relatively lower, which was why many internet giants had chosen the city to lay out their cloud data centers, or to establish headquarters there.

"Compared with the big cities represented by Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Chongqing is in western China, but enjoys convenient land and sea transportation, not to mention the newly established new western land-sea corridor," said Wang Jinshan, president of Chongqing Jinshan Science & Technology (Group) Co.