People shop at a night market in Chongqing on Aug 19, 2022. [Photo/VCG]

Chongqing municipality in Southwest China will be the only guest province of honor at the upcoming 22nd China International Fair for Investment & Trade (CIFIT), which is scheduled to take place from Sept 8 to 11 in Xiamen, Fujian province.

As one of the first inland trade ports in the nation, a forerunner of the reform and opening-up policy, and the only municipality directly under the central government in Central or West China, Chongqing is an economic center in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Last year, its total exports and imports exceeded 800 billion yuan ($115.92 billion), a surge of 22.87 percent year on year. "Chongqing's edge in geography, industry, ecosystems and mechanisms has inspired domestic and overseas businesspeople to invest," said an official from the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce. To date, 312 Fortune 500 companies have extended their operations in Chongqing.

Chongqing boasts a relatively complete industrial system, with the annual output of 22 of its industrial sectors having reached 10 billion yuan. It is currently Asia's largest electronic information industrial cluster and China's largest automobile manufacturing center.

After more than 20 years of development, CIFIT has become an influential global investment and trade event. Chongqing will make full use of the platform to promote itself to the outside world. In addition, the Chongqing delegation will take part in the opening ceremony and hold exchanges and other meetings during the event.