The first municipal-level major project in the Chongqing area of Sichuan-Chongqing Gaozhu New Area is completed in 3 days to obtain the "Two Certificates".

How long does it take from signing the land-lease contract to obtaining the real estate ownership certificate? The answer given by the first city-level major project in the Chongqing section of the Sichuan-Chongqing Gaozhu New Area—the Times Chang’an power battery plant project—is 3 days.

After an enterprise signs the land-lease contract, it obtained the construction land planning permit on March 25, and completed payment for the consideration on March 27 and办理 the real estate ownership certificate. Behind this approval case is a vivid snapshot of the city’s planning and natural resources system deepening the “streamline administration, delegate power, improve regulation, and optimize services” reform, and promoting administrative approval reforms such as “hand over the land and hand over the certificate” and “hand over the house and hand over the certificate.”

The Times Chang’an power battery project is jointly invested and built by CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology) and Changan Automobile, with a total investment of about RMB 5.5 billion and covering about 1,000 mu of land. It is the first city-level major settled project in the Chongqing section of the Sichuan-Chongqing Gaozhu New Area.

Project effect diagram. Provided by the interviewed unit

The reporter from Upstream News learned that after the project is completed, it will build a new 25GWh power battery production base, providing supporting facilities for brands under Changan Automobile such as Avita, DeepBlue, and Qiyuan. The expected annual output value is about RMB 10 billion. As a demonstrative project of “Sichuan-Chongqing cooperation, bidirectional empowerment, and shared outcomes,” its efficient implementation has set a benchmark for industrial collaboration and coordinated development in the Sichuan-Chongqing neighboring regions.

Is the project quick to land? The key lies in approval.

In the past, stages such as the land use list, planning conditions, land appraisal, cadastral investigation, and confirmation and certificate issuance were intricately linked and advanced in sequence, requiring coordination across multiple departments, with a long approval process chain and long time consumption. Focusing on what businesses urgently need, the Chongqing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau has instructed offices in each district and county to boldly explore and redesign procedures, promoting the transformation of approval services from a “relay race” to “side-by-side running,” so that “hand over the land and hand over the certificate” and “hand over the house and hand over the certificate” move from “isolated cases” to “standard configuration,” becoming a new normal across the city.

“What kind of speed is a good speed? What kind of service is good service? After repeatedly thinking about the answer, there is only one: enterprise satisfaction and fast project implementation are the hard truth.” The person in charge of the administrative approval division of the Chongqing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau said that during the study and education on establishing and practicing the correct outlook on political achievements, the bureau’s Party members and officials further recognized that genuine political achievements are not about “approving how many cases from an office,” but about “how many fewer days enterprises wait and how many months earlier projects go into production.” They need to push the approval process to make a profound shift from “making it convenient for departments” to “making it convenient for enterprises.”

Positioned to build a “technology-leading new energy power battery supporting base,” the Times Chang’an power battery plant project will introduce the latest-generation battery processes from CATL that feature leading performance and iterative compatibility.

To ensure the project lands quickly and starts production early, Chongqing has explored establishing a full-process service mechanism of “precise guidance—closed-loop coordination—mechanism enablement.” With designated personnel stepping in early and providing full-course “escort,” the bureau tailors an approval “roadmap” and a materials checklist for the enterprise. This changes enterprises running around for paperwork into inter-department coordination. At present, this model has not only taken effect in Beibei, but also provides replicable and promotable experience for all districts and counties across the city.

“We originally thought we would have to wait for the certificate for a month or two. But we got the certificate on the very day we paid the fees.” The person in charge of the Times Chang’an power battery plant project said, “Waiting one more day is a cost—every bit of time we抢出来 translates into the confidence for our accelerated development. Our rapid project implementation is also helping pave the way and serve as a reference for the enterprises that will move in afterward.”

In fact, this kind of speed is no longer a one-off case across the city.

According to statistics, in 2025, 199 projects in the city were handled through the application of “smart governance for land-use planning approvals.” The number of approval steps was optimized from 11 to 5, a reduction of 55%. The number of application materials submitted by enterprises decreased from 31 to 12, a reduction of 61%.

The business environment can only be better, not the best. The relevant person in charge of the administrative approval division of the Chongqing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau said that in the next step, it will further deepen the reform of “one matter handled once” (handling related matters in one go), focusing on the full chain and all stages of project implementation. It will further remove bottlenecks, compress timelines, improve efficiency, and promote more major projects to land, go into production, and start yielding results early.

Upstream News reporter Guo Faxiang