Chengdu, an international hotspot in western China, has maintained steady economic growth after attracting overseas partners, despite overall downward pressure nationwide.

Chengdu's GDP reached 232 billion yuan ($37 billion) in the first quarter of this year, a 7.8 percent increase year-on-year and 0.4 percentage points higher than the national rate.

Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday that China would meet this year's growth target of about 7.5 percent, which is "slower than the past, but normal".

Huang Xinchu, Chengdu Party secretary, said Chengdu would continue to optimize its industrial structure and maintain steady economic growth.

The city will give priority to industries including electronics and information, automobile, new energy, high-tech machinery, finance and e-commerce, according to Huang.

International investments have boosted Chengdu's economic development.

Keith Williams, chief executive officer of British Airways, said the airline recognizes Chengdu's potential and believes the city will become a key hub on the international aviation map in the future.

British Airways increased the number of flights to Chengdu from three to five a week on May 6, less than eight months after it opened the direct route.

The airline uses new Boeing 787s for the route, which provide about 1,000 seats for three flights.

Chengdu was one of the first cities to operate routes with the new aircraft, which Williams said showed the importance the airline attached to the city.

United Airlines started a direct Chengdu-San Francisco route on June 11, which marked the first direct link from western China to the United States.

Jake Cefolia, United's vice-president of Atlantic and Pacific sales, said Chengdu was a city with unique attractions and a gateway to a market of 200 million people.

"We are very optimistic about the Chengdu market because of its rich business opportunities and tourism resources," he said.

A total of 73 international flights run from Chengdu and the local government has new routes planned to link the city to more major international destinations such as Istanbul, Moscow, Paris and Dubai, according to the Chengdu Logistics Office.

Chengdu has accelerated its pace of opening-up to the outside world and integrating into the world economy in recent years.

More than half of the Fortune Global 500 companies have established a presence in Chengdu, including Intel, Dell, Lenovo, DHL, UPS, FAW-Volkswagen and Volvo.

According to local officials, Chengdu produces half of the world's laptop chips and two thirds of the iPads.

The city is expected to produce more than 800,000 cars.

"As the demand continues to shrink globally, competition among multinational companies is more likely to center on regional markets," said Yan Xing, deputy director of Chengdu Academy of Social Sciences.

Yan said Chengdu was one of the best choices for multinational companies to explore China's western market, as the city is at the center of the region's most important cities, including Chongqing, Xi'an, Kunming and Guiyang.

Despite a 1 percent drop in China's foreign trade in the first quarter, Chengdu's foreign trade maintained steady growth and reached $13.7 billion, a rise of 9.6 percent year-on-year.

The city is expanding foreign trade by transforming itself from a domestic transport hub into an international hub, according to local officials.

The city is China's fourth-largest air hub and has plans for a new airport, which will make it the third city on the Chinese mainland to have a second airport, after Beijing and Shanghai.

The city also expects to operate a return route service of the Chengdu-Europe express rail. The service runs from the Chengdu Railway Container Logistics Center, the largest railway container distribution hub in Asia, to Lodz, in Poland.

The express rail opened on April 27, 2013, and by April this year had operated 45 trains with 3,704 containers, which totaled 8,293 metric tons and were worth $156 million, according to Shanda Huang, operations manager of Chengdu Hatrans YHF Intermodal Logistics Co Ltd.

The cargo came from provinces around the country and included laptops produced by PC giant Dell's global operation base in Chengdu, auto parts, home appliances, clothing, shoes and toys.

The local government plans to shorten the train's journey time to 12 days from the present 14 days and increase the frequency of trains to twice a week during peak season.

Contact the writers at liyu@chinadaily.com.cn and pengchao@chinadaily.com.cn and liubaijia@chinadaily.com.cn

British Airways has increased the number of flights from London to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, from three to five a week. Peng Chao / China Daily