Chapter One Overview and Overall Pattern of China's Regional Development
Abstract:
China is a large countries with vast territory, regional policy is the important part of national macro-control policy. The regional development strategy after the founding of new China is generally divided into three stages. After the founding of new China until reform and opening up, the regional development strategy which favored the inland areas was generally implemented at the national level; after reform and opening up until the end of the 20th century, the regional development strategy which gave priority to the development of coastal areas was generally carried out at the national level; in the subsequent 10-20 years, the Central Government made a number of major decisions for promoting regional coordinated development. The strategy of western development was initiated in 1999. The strategy for reinvigorating the old industrial bases including northeast China was introduced in 2003. The strategy for boosting the rise of central China was launched in 2006. In 2010, measures were introduced to push forward main functional areas, and increase the support for special areas including poverty-stricken areas, the areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, the old revolutionary base areas and the areas with resource depletion, and encourage the eastern areas to first develop. The implementation of these major regional coordinated development policies helps preliminarily shape the pattern of regional coordinated development.
Chapter Two Main Effects and Problems in Promoting Regional Development
Abstract:
Since the implementation of the regional coordinated development strategy, the striking problems in various regions have been effectively eased. Under the guidance of the regional coordinated development strategy, the proportion of central and west China in national economy has significantly increased, central and west China is comparable to Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, and a number of new regional economic growth poles—including the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Chengdu-Chongqing, Central Plains, central and southern areas of Liaoning Province, Shandong Peninsula and the west coast of the Taiwan Straits—have come into being. Meanwhile, based on the four large regions, the State has also implemented the special support policy for the areas plagued by difficulties including poverty-stricken areas, and the policy system for addressing the areas plagued by difficulties in the administrative regions has been preliminarily built.
The progress in implementing the regional coordinated development strategy is fully recognized, but there is a long way to go before regional coordinated development is achieved. First, the absolute gap in economic development among regions is still relatively large; second, the gap in the basic public service level among regions has not yet narrowed; third, the disorder of regional development remains relatively salient; fourth, the economic development in different regions does not coordinate with population distribution and ecological environment, thus the regional coordinated development strategy is also confronted with deep-seated problem concerning transformation.
Chapter Three New Trends of Reginal Development since the 18
th National Congress of the Communist Party of China
Abstract:
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Central Government has attached great importance to regional development and has specified new requirements—continuing to press ahead with the western development, and implement the regional development strategies of reinvigorating the old industrial bases including northeast China and promoting the rise of central China, and pursuing the balanced development of the eastern, central and western regions, coordinating the north and the south, focusing on the three great strategies including the Belt and Road, coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, and the Yangtze River Economic Zone.
The development of four large regions and implementation of three great strategies are conducive to better coordinating the development of domestic and international markets, promoting the coordinated development of the eastern, central and western regions, fostering the development from points to lines and from lines to areas, and cultivating the new economic growth poles, growth belts and growth points, building the new pattern of all-round opening-up and cooperation in the coastal areas and inland areas, along rivers and the border.
Chapter Four New Thinking for Regional Development under the New Normal of Economic Development
Abstract:
As the economic development enters the new normal, there is new situation for regional development, and new goals, new connotation and new thinking need to be developed. It is suggested that the past experience should be summarized, and equal access to the basic public services among regions is taken as the main goal, and emphasis should be placed on narrowing the gap in the basic public services and living standard among regions, and various regions should be guided to fully leverage comparative advantages to ensure the coordination between economic development and population, ecology. It is suggested that the tasks for promoting regional coordinated development should focus on building a national uniform market, rationally defining the official power and financial resource power relations between the Central Government and local governments and reforming relevant fiscal and tax policies, and full scope should be given to respective advantages of four large regions, efforts should be made to push forward the construction of the Belt and Road and the Yangtze River Economic Zone and coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, shape the new regional development pattern of combining regions with axis belt, combining administrative regions with the regions defined by type, combining domestic market with international market, and combining regional strategy with regional policy.
Chapter Five Experience from Other Countries in Promoting Regional Coordinated Development
Abstract:
Regional development imbalance is a common problem for large countries around the world. In order to narrow the development gap among regions, national governments have generally developed and implemented a number of well-targeted regional policies. This is the important aspect of economic regulation by market economy countries and the important support for countries to build a domestic uniform market and guarantee the people's livelihood.
For a long time, the governments of major large countries and territories in the world including the U.S., EU, Canada, Russia, Japan, Germany and Australia have developed their unique regional policy systems in particular environments and under specific historical conditions. As shown by the practical experience from these countries and territories in regional policy, the fiscal, tax, industrial and financial policies have played important roles and have different shares at different stages. The experience from these countries and territories can be drawn on and it is necessary to carefully summarize the practices of these countries and territories in boosting regional coordinated development; this has an important reference value for us to improve regional policies for the time being and in the future.
