Chongqing, China
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of the country's most important conurbations, and its mines and shipyards help to make it the political and commercial center of southwest China. Chongqing University and other colleges mean that it is also of importance in the educational sphere.

Chongqing can boast a history going back more than 3000 years. As early as the 13th C it was the capital of the Ba kingdom. Like many other Chinese towns and cities, it has borne a number of names in the course of its history - under the Sui dynasty (589-618) it was called Yuzhou, and then Gongzhou during the time of the Northern Song (960-1126). Its present name, which roughly translated means ''double good fortune'', was conferred upon it by the Song Emperor Guangzong in 1189 in order to celebrate two particularly favorable events in his political life, his appointments to Prince and then to Emperor.

At the time of the Japanese occupation the southern office of the central committee of the Chinese Communist party was housed in Chongqing. In 1939 it became the provisional capital of the Chinese Republic, as Nanjing was in the possession of Japanese troops. As a result, millions of people moved here from the eastern provinces and businesses and universities were transferred here too. After 1949 Chongqing's economic development continued apace. In 1997 it was made a directly administered town and thus came under the immediate control of Beijing. This was because of the giant Sanxia dam on the Chanjiang River which promises a large influx of investment.