Municipality aims to become world-class, tech-savvy hub In 2019, when Han Daguang, co-director of a research institute at the University of Leuven in Belgium, moved his family of four to Chongqing, his friends were surprised by the decision. Overseas Chinese used to choose cities in coastal areas when they relocated to the country, but that has changed. The research institute that employed Han in Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area, the nation's first inland economic development zone, received a flurry of 40 resumes in just one week from Chinese students living abroad, 20 percent of whom hold doctorates from top overseas universities. Han, 39, who was born in Northeast China, said he chose Chongqing for its preferential policies, competitive salaries and subsidies, sound working environment, advanced education facilities and the vision and determination of the local government to drive technological innovation.