Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street

Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street

In 1997, the Chongqing Municipal Government and Yuzhong District Government invested 30 million yuan to transform the Jiefangbei Grand Cross area (encompassing 22,400 square meters along Minquan Road, Minzu Road, and Zourong Road), centered around Jiefangbei (Victory Monument for the War of Resistance Against Japan), into China’s first commercial pedestrian street — Jiefangbei Central Shopping Plaza. In 2000 and 2001, Yuzhong District subsequently invested an additional 16 million yuan to expand the pedestrian street to the middle section of Bayi Road and Minzu Road. The area of Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street was thereby increased to 36,000 square meters.

The Jiefangbei business district has experienced rapid economic development, undertaking dual functions in commerce and business. It serves as the core zone of Chongqing’s entire CBD. As early as December 19, 2004, the Jiefangbei Commercial Center, which constitutes the “hard core” of the CBD, achieved a total commercial sales volume of 20.737 billion yuan and a total retail sales volume of consumer goods of 10.031 billion yuan, becoming a “double-hundred-billion” business district. It has been honored with titles such as “Cross-shaped Golden Street,” “China’s Top Ten New Landmark Business Districts,” “China’s Famous Commercial Street,” “Most Investment-Valuable CBD,” “National Characteristic Cultural Square,” and “The First Street of Western China.” It has also been designated by the China Headquarters Economy Research Center as a “China Headquarters Economy Research and Development Practice Base.”

Currently, the Jiefangbei CBD area hosts over 3,000 enterprises and institutions. Among Fortune 500 companies outside mainland China, 38 have set up operations in Jiefangbei CBD, and 47 have established branch offices here, accounting for 56% and 48% of the city’s totals, respectively.

The CBD area houses financial decision-making and regulatory institutions in Chongqing such as the People's Bank of China Chongqing Operations Office, the Chongqing Banking Regulatory Bureau, the Chongqing Securities Regulatory Bureau, and the Chongqing Insurance Regulatory Bureau. It gathers over 90% of foreign-funded banks, city-level branches of commercial banks, and all city-level branches of policy banks stationed in Chongqing. The area is home to three-quarters of insurance institutions, all bill (specialized) institutions, securities corporate entities, branches, and management headquarters in Chongqing, as well as 50% of Chongqing’s securities business departments. It has attracted all insurance company branches, regional headquarters, and China headquarters based in Chongqing. The CBD also clusters Chongqing’s most significant non-bank financial institutions, including trust investment companies, fund management companies, and postal savings and remittance bureaus, as well as over 50% of the city’s financial intermediary (service) institutions.

In July 2003, the municipal government passed the “Chongqing Central Business District Master Plan,” designating the Jiefangbei CBD, centered on the Jiefangbei business district, as the core area of Chongqing’s entire CBD. Yuzhong District stated that it would focus on building the Jiefangbei CBD into the most influential regional commercial hub and a key business functional area in western China, aligning with the positioning of a regional and international CBD.