Apple opening 11th Chinese Apple Store next weekend

Apple’s presence in China continues to grow.

Next weekend, Apple will be bringing up its official Apple Store count in China to eleven. The Cupertino-based company will be opening up a new store at the Paradise Walk mall in the Jiangbei District of Chongqing on Saturday, July 26th.

Chongqing is a critical base for Apple in China, as it is one of only five National Central Cities. From the National Central City Wikipedia page:

In February 2010, the ministry issued the “National Urban System Plan” and designated five major cities, Beijing and Tianjin in the Bohai Economic Rim, Shanghai in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone, Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, and Chongqing in the West Triangle Economic Zone as the National Central Cities. Hong Kong was also included as a special National Central City.

The National Central Cities sphere of influence have great impact around the surrounding cities on modernizing and integrating services in fields such as infrastructure, finance, public education, social welfare, sanitation, business licensing and urban planning.