Coordinated Regional Development in China: Empircal Facts, Theoretical Interpretation, and Mechanism Innovation

Abstract

Since 1949, regional economic development has predominantly progressed through four stages: low-level balanced development, unbalanced development, coordinated development, and high-quality coordinated development. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, China has implemented a range of national strategies aimed at promoting coordinated regional development, including coordinated regional development strategies, major regional strategies, the functional zoning strategy, and the new urbanization strategy. The integration, interaction, and coordination of economic development across regions have continued to strengthen. Grounded in the fundamental principles of Marxism and the practice of regional economic development in China, China’s coordinated regional development theory with Chinese features has emerged, concentrating on addressing the challenges of unbalanced and inadequate regional development in China. Its core essence is to reduce regional disparities, with the fundamental requirements being the equalization of basic public services, relatively balanced infrastructure accessibility, and generally comparable basic living security levels for the population. Mechanism innovations, such as enhancing top-level design, constructing efficient transportation facilities, establishing sound coordinated regional development mechanisms, optimizing the equalization mechanism for basic public services, and improving regional policy regulation and early warning systems, are vital for further advancing coordinated regional development in China.

Keywords

coordinated regional development / China’s coordinated regional development theory / mechanism innovation

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press