Published : 2025-06-18
On June 18, 1997, Chongqing Municipality held the unveiling ceremony of becoming a centrally administered municipality, with the then Premier Li Peng (李鵬) along with over 3,500 representatives from various sectors of Chongqing witnessing the historic moment.
At 10 a.m. that day, the five plaques representing the power of the Party and people, namely those of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Standing Committee of the Chongqing Municipal People's Congress, the Chongqing Municipal People's Government, the Chongqing Municipal People's Political Consultative Conference, and the Chongqing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China were simultaneously exchanged, marking Chongqing's official entry into a new historical period.
On February 27, 1997, on behalf of the State Council, Li Peng, the then Premier of the State Council, submitted a motion to the National People's Congress (NPC) requesting consideration of the establishment of a city directly under the jurisdiction of Chongqing.
The proposal stated that "in order to fully exploit Chongqing's role as a major economic centre city, further promote the economic and social development of the eastern Sichuan region, the southwestern region, and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and facilitate unified planning, arrangement, and management of the Three Gorges Dam project and resettlement in the reservoir area, while addressing the issues of Sichuan Province's excessive population and extensive administrative divisions that complicate management," it was decided to establish Chongqing as a centrally administered municipality.
On March 6 of the same year, the then State Councillor Li Guixian (李貴鮮) provided further explanation on this proposal to the 5th session of the 8th National People's Congress, elaborating on the three main reasons for establishing Chongqing as a centrally administered municipality:
1) Leveraging Chongqing's locational advantages and its role in radiating into the southwest and driving the upper reaches of the Yangtze River; 2) Solving the challenges posed by Sichuan's overpopulation and its vast administrative divisions to governance and development; 3) Facilitating the construction of the Three Gorges Dam project and completing the resettlement tasks.
On March 14, 1997, the 5th session of the 8th National People's Congress passed the proposal to establish Chongqing as a centrally administered municipality.
This decision entrusted Chongqing with the historical mission of leveraging its strengths as a central city—playing a leading, pioneering, and radiating role—to drive the economic and social development of Southwest China and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
