At present, there are some new situations and problems in China's regional economic development. It is necessary to study which existing regional policies should be adhered to and which should be adjusted in the context of changes in the development environment at home and abroad. It is necessary to make strategic considerations towards the second century goal.
I. Correctly understand the current new situation of regional economic development
China has a vast territory and a large population, and there are few differences in natural resource endowments among regions. Coordinating regional development has always been a major issue. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee has proposed new regional development strategies such as the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”, the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta. Next, we need to study the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.
At present, China's regional development situation is good, and at the same time, some new situations and new issues deserve attention. First, regional economic development is clearly differentiated. The Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and other regions have initially embarked on the track of high-quality development. The growth of some northern provinces has slowed down, and the national economic focus has moved further south. In 2018, the total economic volume of the northern region accounted for 38.5% of the country's total, down 4.3 percentage points from 2012. Significant differentiation also occurred within each plate, and some provinces also experienced differentiation. Second, the phenomenon of polarization of development dynamics has become increasingly prominent. The trend of economy and population to large cities and urban agglomerations is relatively obvious. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other megacities have continued to increase their development advantages. Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an and other large cities have a good development momentum, forming regional growth poles that promote high-quality development. Third, some regions face greater difficulties in development. The development of Northeast China and Northwest China is relatively lagging behind. From 2012 to 2018, the proportion of the total economic volume of the Northeast region in the country dropped from 8.7% to 6.2%, and the permanent population decreased by 1.37 million. Most of them were young people and scientific and technological personnel. Some cities, especially resource-exhausted cities, and cities in traditional industrial and mining areas have insufficient development vitality.
On the whole, the spatial structure of China's economic development is undergoing profound changes, and central cities and urban agglomerations are becoming the main form of space that bears the elements of development. We must adapt to the new situation and plan new ideas for coordinated regional development.
2. Thoughts on promoting regional coordinated development in the new situation
Under the new situation, promote the coordinated development of the region. The general idea is to adjust and improve the regional policy system in accordance with objective economic laws, give play to the comparative advantages of each region, promote the rational flow and efficient concentration of various factors, increase the momentum for innovation and development, and accelerate the construction of high-quality development Power system to enhance the economic and population carrying capacity of economically advantageous areas such as central cities and urban agglomerations, enhance the functions of other areas in ensuring food security, ecological security, borderland security, etc., and form a regional economic layout with complementary advantages and high-quality development .
First, respect objective laws. The concentration of industries and populations in advantageous areas forms a source of growth power with urban agglomerations as the main form, which in turn drives the overall efficiency of the economy. This is an economic law. It is necessary to remove obstacles to resource flow, make the market play a decisive role in resource allocation, promote the free flow of various production factors and concentrate in advantageous areas, and improve the efficiency of resource allocation. Of course, megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai must reasonably control the population size based on resource conditions and functional positioning.
Second, give play to comparative advantages. Areas with good economic development conditions should carry more industries and populations and play a role in value creation. Areas with strong ecological functions need to be effectively protected to create more ecological products. It is necessary to consider national security factors and enhance the development capacity of border areas so that they have certain population and economic support to promote national unity and border stability.
Third, improve space governance. It is necessary to improve and implement the main function area strategy, refine the main function area division, divide the policy units according to the main function positioning, formulate differentiated policies for key development areas, ecologically fragile areas, and energy resource areas, and classify precise policies to promote the formation of main functions. The spatial development pattern of effective restraint and orderly land development.
Fourth, guarantee the bottom line of people's livelihood. The basic requirements for coordinated regional development are to achieve equalization of basic public services and a relatively balanced access to infrastructure. It is necessary to improve supporting policies such as land, household registration and transfer payments, improve the carrying capacity of urban agglomerations, and promote the stable settlement of migrants. To promote the resettlement of migrants, we must overcome formalism and work hard to ensure that the migrants can succeed and succeed. It is necessary to ensure the equalization of basic public services in the region that undertake strategic functions such as security and ecology.
3. Major measures to promote coordinated regional development
It is necessary to improve the new mechanism for regional coordinated development from various aspects and step up the implementation of relevant policies and measures.
First, a unified and orderly competitive commodity and factor market is formed. It is necessary to implement a nationwide unified market access negative list system, eliminate discriminatory and hidden regional market barriers, break administrative monopolies, and resolutely eliminate local protectionism. In addition to the clear policies and regulations provided by the central government, we will comprehensively relax urban settlement conditions, improve supporting policies, break irrational barriers that hinder labor mobility, and promote optimal allocation of human resources. It is necessary to improve the market integration development mechanism, deepen regional cooperation mechanisms, and strengthen cooperation in regional infrastructure, environmental protection, and industry.
Secondly, the nationwide coordination of endowment insurance should be realized as soon as possible. National overall planning for endowment insurance is of great significance to maintain a unified national market, promote fair competition among enterprises, and free labor flow. On the basis of ensuring the unified revenue and expenditure of provincial funds in 2020, we must speed up the national overall planning of endowment insurance, and achieve national unity and mutual aid.
Third, reform the land management system. It is necessary to accelerate the reform of the land management system, and the construction land resources are tilted towards central cities and key urban agglomerations. Under the premise that the land and space planning and the issuance of rural land rights have been basically completed, the use of urban and rural construction land supply indicators should be more the overall responsibility of the provincial government. It is necessary to give greater development space to the advantageous areas.
Fourth, improve the dual control system for energy consumption. The dual control of total energy consumption and intensity has played a positive role in saving energy resources and fighting tough battles on pollution prevention and control. However, at present, more than 10 provinces have proposed that it is difficult to complete the energy consumption target of the 13th Five-Year Plan. This issue must be studied carefully, and we must do our best and seek truth from facts. For regions where energy consumption intensity meets the standards and develops rapidly, the total energy consumption control must be appropriately flexible.
Fifth, comprehensively establish an ecological compensation system. It is necessary to improve the inter-regional interest compensation mechanism to form a benign situation in which beneficiaries pay and protectors receive reasonable compensation. It is necessary to improve the vertical ecological compensation mechanism and increase transfer payments to forests, grasslands, wetlands and key ecological function areas. It is necessary to promote the experience of water environment compensation pilots in the Xin'an River and encourage various types of compensation such as capital, industry and talents to be carried out between the upper and lower reaches of the basin. It is necessary to establish and improve a market-oriented and diversified ecological compensation mechanism, and carry out a pilot of the realization mechanism of ecological product value in the Yangtze River Basin.
Sixth, improve the fiscal transfer payment system. It is necessary to improve the fiscal system and reasonably determine the proportion of central expenditures in total expenditures. Effective transfer payments should be provided to key ecological function zones, major agricultural product producing areas, and difficult areas. Basic public services should be linked to the permanent population and supplied by the place of permanent residence. It is necessary to use information technology to build a convenient and efficient public service platform to facilitate the movement of people across the country.
