2005-2006: China Regional Economic Development Report (Includes CD-ROM)

Author: Jing Ti Hua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: The series of books on "" is a large-scale series of publications launched by the Social Sciences Academic Press in recent years. It consists of a series of authoritative research reports on economic and social development. Each year, at the end of the year and the beginning of the new year, it analyzes and forecasts the current status and development trends of China and the world in various fields such as economy and society. 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, and are of undeniable authority. At the same time, each book comes with a database CD-ROM, which is both an e-book and a database. After installation, it can be read on a computer, and entering any word can quickly search and retrieve, 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 places regional development in a key position among ten important aspects, including economic growth model and industrial structure adjustment. 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, the pilot projects for regional planning in the Yangtze River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region are steadily advancing.
Since the reform and opening-up for more than 20 years, based on the economic special zones such as Shenzhen and guided by the development of Pudong, the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta have rapidly risen to become China's most active "two poles" of the economy. Before 2003, the Pearl River Delta had the leading growth rate. In 2003, it reached the peak of growth in the new century, but that same year, the Yangtze River Delta's economic growth rate first surpassed that of the Pearl River Delta, taking over the role of the "pacesetter." In 2005, although both the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta still showed strong momentum, their economic growth rates both experienced a significant decline under the national macro-control.
First, let's look at the Yangtze River Delta: In the first three quarters of 2005, while the national GDP growth rate only declined by 0.1% year-on-year, the growth rate of the Yangtze River Delta region's GDP declined by 2.6 percentage points year-on-year. Among them: Suzhou and Ningbo declined by 2.5 percentage points year-on-year, Nanjing declined by 3.1 percentage points year-on-year, while Hangzhou and Shanghai experienced a significant decline of 3.6 percentage points year-on-year.
Next, let's look at the Pearl River Delta: In fact, the Pearl River Delta had already started to decline from its peak in 2004. In the first three quarters of 2005, the growth rates of major economic indicators such as GDP, fixed-asset investment, and foreign trade exports in the Pearl River Delta all showed some decline. In terms of GDP growth rate, apart from Foshan, which increased by 2.7 percentage points year-on-year, the other eight cities all showed varying degrees of decline, with Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhongshan declining by 3.5, 3.1, and 4.5 percentage points, respectively.
Currently, the Yangtze River Delta remains the "pacesetter" of national economic development, and the proportion of its main economic indicators in the country is still further increasing. In the first three quarters of 2005, the Yangtze River Delta region's GDP accounted for 22.7% of the country's total, an increase of 0.6 percentage points year-on-year; the total import and export volume accounted for 35.8% of the country's total, an increase of 0.8 percentage points year-on-year; and the actual utilization of foreign capital accounted for 41% of the country's total, an increase of 5.9 percentage points year-on-year. Only the absolute value of contribution decreased, and its proportion in the country's total also decreased 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 track. The trend of "changing the growth model" has already emerged. As regional development enters the national development strategy, regional economies are facing a major ideological adjustment and will rapidly enter a major transformation period.
At the national level, the "Proposal" of the 5th Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed the goal of establishing a resource-saving and environmentally friendly society, explicitly stating that the "traditional growth model" achieved by increasing the input of material resources can no longer adapt. The 11th Five-Year Plan will shift to achieving economic growth through continuously improving the quality of economic activities. The 11th Five-Year Plan period has set specific main goals: on the basis of optimizing structure, improving efficiency, and reducing consumption, it aims to double the 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 gears while developing rapidly, and 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 unleash its late-mover advantages and change the unbalanced situation of China's regional development "south-high-north-low," creating a new pattern of coordinated regional development in China. 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 lively new thinking.