2005-2006: China Regional Economic Development Report (with disc)

Author: Jing Ti Hua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: The series of books is a large-scale series of publications by the Social Sciences Academic Press in recent years. It consists of a series of authoritative research reports on economic and social development. At the end of each year, these books analyze and forecast the current status and development trends in various fields of China and the world. The authors of this series are primarily experts from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who are top experts from first-class research institutions in China. Their views and perspectives reflect the highest level of understanding and recognition of the reality and future of China and the world, making them unquestionably authoritative. At the same time, each book comes with a database CD-ROM, which serves as both an e-book and a database. After installation, it can be accessed via computer, allowing for quick searches by entering any word, making reading and research more convenient and efficient.
The proposal on formulating the 11th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, approved by the 5th Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, placed regional development in a key position among ten important areas, including economic growth models and industrial restructuring. Strengthening regional coordination and promoting coordinated regional economic development have been put on the agenda as an important task for China's economic and social development. The formulation of regional economic development plans that break through administrative divisions has been initiated. Currently, pilot projects for regional planning are steadily advancing in the Yangtze River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regions.
Since the reform and opening-up for over 20 years, based on economic special zones like Shenzhen and guided by the development of Pudong, the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta have rapidly emerged as China's two most dynamic "poles." Before 2003, the Pearl River Delta consistently led in growth rates. However, in 2003, the Yangtze River Delta's economic growth rate surpassed that of the Pearl River Delta for the first time, taking over the role of the "pacesetter." In 2005, while both regions still showed strength, their economic growth rates declined significantly under national macroeconomic regulation.
First, let's look at the Yangtze River Delta: In the first three quarters of 2005, while the national GDP growth rate only fell by 0.1% year-on-year, the regional GDP growth rate of the Yangtze River Delta fell by 2.6 percentage points year-on-year. Specifically: Suzhou and Ningbo fell by 2.5 percentage points, Nanjing fell by 3.1 percentage points, while Hangzhou and Shanghai saw a sharp decline of 3.6 percentage points.
Next, the Pearl River Delta: In fact, the Pearl River Delta began to decline from its peak in 2004. In the first three quarters of 2005, the growth rates of key economic indicators such as GDP, fixed-asset investment, and foreign trade exports in the Pearl River Delta showed a slowdown. In terms of GDP growth rates, besides Foshan rising by 2.7 percentage points year-on-year, the other eight cities showed varying degrees of decline. Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhongshan fell by 3.5, 3.1, and 4.5 percentage points, respectively.
Currently, the Yangtze River Delta remains the "pacesetter" in China's economic development, with its share of major economic indicators in the national total continuing to rise. In the first three quarters of 2005, the Yangtze River Delta's GDP accounted for 22.7% of the national total, an increase of 0.6 percentage points year-on-year; its total import and export volume accounted for 35.8% of the national total, an increase of 0.8 percentage points year-on-year; and its foreign investment inflow accounted for 41% of the national total, an increase of 5.9 percentage points year-on-year. Only the absolute contribution of decreased, with its share in the national total falling by 1.2 percentage points year-on-year.
However, neither the Yangtze River Delta nor the Pearl River Delta can continue on their original growth trajectories. The trend of "changing tracks" in growth models has already emerged. As regional development enters the national strategic vision, regional economies are facing a major conceptual shift and will rapidly enter a period of significant transformation.
At the national level, the proposal from the 5th Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sets the goal of establishing a resource-conserving and environmentally friendly society, explicitly stating that the "traditional growth model" achieved through increased input of material resources can no longer adapt. The 11th Five-Year Plan will shift toward achieving economic growth through continuously improving the quality of economic activities. The 11th Five-Year Plan for economic and social development has set specific major goals: on the basis of optimizing structure, improving efficiency, and reducing consumption, achieve a doubling of per capita GDP by 2010 compared to 2000, significantly improve resource utilization efficiency, and reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by about 20% compared to the end of the 10th Five-Year Plan period.
It can be said that "enhancing independent innovation capacity" is the fundamental way to improve the quality of economic activities and achieve the above goals. How the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta can quickly shift tracks while maintaining rapid development, and how they can continue to be active "growth poles" in the process of building an innovative country; and what strategic thinking the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region should adopt to leverage its late-mover advantages and change the unbalanced "south-high-north-low" regional development pattern in China, creating a new landscape for coordinated regional development. These are issues of common concern to decision-makers and researchers in all regions and are also the theme of this year's China Regional Development Report. May this book provide intellectual support for the transformation of regional growth models with fresh and innovative thinking.