Chengdu is undergoing a major economic restructuring, aiming to become a model city for the future of services. The injection of AI into manufacturing bases has driven a 52.8% surge in services for production, shifting consumer behavior towards experience-based sales. The Thai Trade Promotion Agency (TTPA) advises Thai businesses to use this as a strategic gateway to penetrate the western Chinese market, highlighting wellness and Thai food products.
September 12, 2026 — The Thai Trade Center in Chengdu, China, reported that Chengdu, Sichuan Province, has announced a major five-year strategic plan for service sector development. The plan aims to shift from quantitative growth to improving quality, efficiency, and added value, targeting an average annual growth rate of over 5% in added value within the service sector and a total value exceeding 2 trillion yuan by 2030, in order to become a "national model city for service sector development."
A clear sign of this transition emerged when FAW-Volkswagen began production of its first new-energy vehicle, the Jetta M6, at its Chengdu manufacturing base. This marked the cumulative production milestone of over 7 million vehicles, reflecting that the success of the automotive industry is not solely due to production capacity, but also relies heavily on the service sector, encompassing research, design, software development, inspection, testing, supply chain management, marketing, and after-sales service.
The service sector has emerged as a pillar, boosting its share to nearly 70% of the city's GDP.
Chengdu's new strategy comes amidst a tangible transformation of its economic structure. By 2568, the value-added of the service sector in Chengdu is projected to exceed 1.7 trillion yuan, accounting for nearly 70% of the total economy and contributing over 70% to economic growth. Simultaneously, tax revenue from the service sector is close to 70%, confirming its status as a cornerstone of the city's economy.
Since the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, Chengdu's service sector has experienced remarkable growth, giving rise to a large-scale service industry cluster worth over 100 billion yuan across various sectors, including both manufacturing services and daily life services. Notably, the proportion of manufacturing services has grown continuously for four years, recently reaching 52.8%, demonstrating that specialized knowledge and advanced technology services, which generate higher added value than basic services, have become a major driving force supporting the industrial sector.
Planting the flag of AI+ to drive future services and build a multi-billion dollar platform.
The core of this strategy is to systematically integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into the service sector through the "AI+" concept. This involves applying AI to service sectors for production, such as industrial software, research and design, and supply chain management. Simultaneously, AI will be used to create personalized consumer experiences and enhance user interaction.
Furthermore, Chengdu is accelerating the promotion of leading business platforms and local platforms, upgrading e-commerce and live commerce, with the goal of developing at least 10 platforms with an economic value of 1 billion yuan or more, in order to widely disseminate the use of digital technology to the business sector.
Shift consumer behavior from “buying products” to “buying experiences.”
Beyond supporting the manufacturing sector, changes on the consumer side are also a significant driving force. In the first half of 2569, service expenditures accounted for 51% of total consumer spending in Chengdu, reflecting a shift in behavior from primarily purchasing goods to consumption driven by services and experiences.
Last summer, Chengdu launched over 100 high-quality tourist attractions and staged 86 nighttime performances. Sports, entertainment, education, and health-related tourism activities garnered significant attention, and even just a few such events could have a clearly positive ripple effect on the local hotel, restaurant, and transportation businesses.
Implementing a “4+4+3+N” structure, injecting 6 billion baht to fund 500 projects.
To drive the plan towards achieving its goals, Chengdu has outlined a development framework in the "4+4+3+N" model, focusing on accelerating four service groups for production: science and technology services, software and information services, business services, and environmental and low-carbon services. This is coupled with upgrading four service groups that meet the needs of life: unique commerce, culture, sports and tourism, health, and public services.
Meanwhile, three service groups have been positioned as the main supporting structures: modern finance, modern logistics, and platform economy. A plan is also in place to develop 46 new high-potential sectors through investment in nearly 500 projects, totaling over 600 billion yuan. This aims to transform the service sector from merely a revenue generator into an economic infrastructure connecting innovation, production, marketing, consumption, and international markets.
The Thai Trade Center in Chengdu points to opportunities for exporting Thai services, highlighting "wellness and food" as gateways to western China.
The Thai Trade Center in Chengdu commented that Chengdu's policy of upgrading its service sector presents a significant opportunity for Thai entrepreneurs to expand economic cooperation and access a market with high purchasing power and a demand for premium goods and services. Thailand's service sector has internationally recognized strengths, particularly in wellness, spas, and cosmetic medicine, which aligns with the modern Chinese consumer's emphasis on holistic health care.
For the food industry, it is recommended to shift from focusing solely on exporting raw materials to a "product-to-experience" strategy. This can be achieved by opening unique restaurants that showcase authentic Thai culture, moving beyond price competition to a competition based on quality and experience.
Furthermore, other service sectors such as education, digital content, logistics, and digital marketing also have high growth potential from the integration of AI. Thai businesses can utilize Chengdu as a "strategic gateway" to effectively distribute goods and services and penetrate deeper into secondary cities and other potential markets in inner western China.
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