Abstract: The development of the Chengdu-Chongqing Twin-City Economic Circle has spanned five years and has now entered a critical phase of building momentum and achieving comprehensive advancement. From a historical perspective, the Chengdu-Chongqing region has consistently served as a strategic fulcrum within the nation's spatial framework; from a holistic perspective, the rise of the region as the "fourth pole" is not only an inevitable choice of national strategy but also the era's answer to coordinated regional development; from a comparative standpoint, although there remains a gap in economic scale, the strategic significance of Chengdu and Chongqing—in terms of their value as nodes in dual-cycle development, the gradient differences in factor costs, and the optimization of territorial space—makes them an irreplaceable "strategic backup system" in the national economic landscape. Faced with prominent challenges—such as insufficient synergy with the three major coastal growth poles—the Chengdu-Chongqing Dual-City Economic Circle must accelerate progress by addressing key dimensions: establishing itself as the fourth pole for international aviation hubs, the fourth pole for integrated innovation in science, technology, and industry, the fourth pole for talent development through industry-education integration, the fourth pole for ecological value transformation, and the fourth pole for high-quality urban living. Through cross-regional synergy, the removal of institutional barriers, and the optimization and integration of production factors, a quantifiable and actionable implementation pathway should be established to transform the "fourth pole" from a strategic blueprint into a tangible reality.
