Chongqing’s Jiangbeizui central business district, located in the heart of Liangjiang New Area, is in a strong position to become a financial hub in China, joining Beijing’s Financial Street and Lujiazui in Shanghai.

Chongqing’s Liangjiang New Area, the nation’s first inland economic development zone, is looking to benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative and to attract more overseas investors.

Southwest China’s Chongqing is located at the junction of one of the initiative’s proposed trade routes and the Yangtze River economic belt. When the initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013 is implemented, the area stands to gain from increased trade and investment.

In June 2010, the State Council approved Liangjiang New Area, making it the third national new area after Shanghai Pudong and Tianjin Binhai.

Last year, Liangjiang’s GDP reached 186 billion yuan ($30 billion), more than double that of five years earlier. The area’s foreign trade value expanded at a compound annual growth rate of 72.5 percent, from $3.37 billion to $51 billion.

With 13 projects worth 8 billion yuan added to the new area, generating some 30 billion yuan, the area attracted foreign investment of $4.47 billion in 2014, up 40.9 percent year-on-year and accounting for more than one-third of Chongqing’s total. More than 120 companies from about 20 countries and regions have invested in the Liangjiang area.

The development of traditional and emerging industries has created momentum for Liangjiang’s growth, said Tang Zongwei, deputy director of the Liangjiang administrative committee.

Liangjiang has boosted the development of nine emerging industries, including robotics, shale gas equipment and general aviation. The committee said output from the nine industries is expected to reach 600 billion yuan in five years.

More than 200 Fortune Global 500 companies, including Ford, General Motors and Hyundai, have established branches in Liangjiang New Area.