Situated in the middle of Sichuan Province, China, and as the provincial seat, Chengdu is one of the vice provincial-level cities, the center of politics, economy, culture and education, a city with separate national economic and social development planning, and a famous state-level historical and cultural city. Chengdu is a center of S&T, commerce and trade, and a hub for finance, transportation and communication. In 2008, Chengdu’s GDP totaled RMB 390.1 billion with per capital GDP of RMB 30,855 against a permanent-resident population of 12,579 million
Chengdu is now the largest comprehensive industrial city in southwest China, one of the four electronics industrial bases and one of the three production centers of seamless steel pipes in China. As of today, Chengdu has scored enormous achievements in industries of electronic information, biomedicine, chemistry and chemical-making, furniture and shoe-making, animation and media, convention and exhibition, aviation and space, and tourism etc. thus securing the solid position of being a top-10 city in the country and a core city in the west region