The central region is accelerating its rise, and Guangdong and the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area have great potential
2024-05-29
In terms of national regional strategic layout, the central region is expected to usher in a new round of development opportunities. On May 27th, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a meeting to review the "Several Policy Measures to Accelerate the Rise of the Central Region in the New Era" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), emphasizing the need to fully leverage the advantages of gathering scientific and educational resources, develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions, and expand and strengthen the real economy. We need to leverage our geographical advantages, strengthen the construction of modern transportation infrastructure system, and better integrate into the new development pattern of service. The Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area and Guangdong should seize this opportunity to further consolidate and enhance their position in the global economy, especially in the industrial landscape, by connecting with the rise of the central region. The acceleration of the rise of the central region is timely, and there are three points worth noting in the Measures under review. The positioning of "three bases and one hub" (an important grain production base, energy and raw material base, modern equipment manufacturing and high-tech industry base, and comprehensive transportation hub in China) remains unchanged, which not only demonstrates the continuity of policies, but also reflects the special importance of the central region in ensuring national economic security. Grain, energy raw materials, equipment manufacturing, and transportation are not only advantages but also responsibilities for the six central provinces. Secondly, there is a greater emphasis on innovation, independent research and development, and a focus on the future. Looking back at the history of the rise and development of the central region, the shift from "undertaking" to "creating" is clearly visible. In 2004, the Government Work Report of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference first proposed "promoting the rise of the central region". In the following decade, facing the problem of weak successors of resource-based economy, industrial transfer has become a high-frequency term to promote the rise of the central region; In 2012, the State Council issued a document proposing that the rise of the central region should promote reform and innovation in key areas, and comprehensively expand opening up; The symposium on promoting the rise of the central region held in 2019 emphasized that the rise of the central region should be led by new development concepts to achieve high-quality development. Until this Central Political Bureau meeting, nearly one-third of the "Measures" emphasized the need to fully leverage the advantages of gathering scientific and educational resources, adhere to innovation driven development, strengthen original scientific and technological breakthroughs, and develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions. The central region not only needs to coordinate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, but also needs to cultivate and strengthen emerging industries and plan for the layout of future industries. Planning for "future industries" is not only a matter for developed cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen, but also for the whole country, with the premise of adapting to local conditions. The third is to emphasize implementation and clarify division of labor. The Politburo meeting proposed that the Central Regional Coordination and Development Leading Group should strengthen overall coordination, and the six central provinces should effectively shoulder their main responsibilities. The reason is also very obvious. The current guiding document on the rise of the central region is the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting High quality Development of the Central Region in the New Era" issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council in 2021. This document has clear requirements for the goals and tasks of the rise of the central region in 2025 and 2035. For example, by 2025, the proportion of research and development funds invested by the whole society in the central region to the regional GDP will reach the national average level, and the urbanization rate of the permanent population will increase by more than 1 percentage point per year. According to the plan, the development of the six central provinces has made significant progress. For example, the urbanization rate of the permanent population has historically exceeded 60% in 2022, and the grain production in 2023 accounts for 29.2% of the national total. Of course, it should also be noted that compared to the 2025 target, there is still a gap in some indicators in the central region. At this time, it is timely to study and launch the Measures. It will be officially implemented and is expected to provide scientific guidance for the accelerated rise of the central region. Research by economists on the deep linkage between the Greater Bay Area and the central region shows that the national economic center (a point in regional economic space where economic forces in all directions remain balanced) is in the central region, while the economic center of the eastern region is also in the central region. From data analysis, it can be seen that this is due to the north-south trend of the eastern coastal areas, and the high concentration of industrial economy in the coastal areas. But from the perspective of economic space, this also demonstrates the special position of the central region in the national economic layout: to find a place on the national map to effectively undertake the economic radiation and industrial transfer of the eastern region, whether it is regional advantages, industrial foundation and resource endowment, the central region is the first choice. In fact, this trend is already occurring. The modern equipment manufacturing and high-tech industry base is not only an important positioning in the central region, but also a key support for the development of new quality productivity. From the perspective of the national manufacturing industry, from 1987 to 2017, the focus of the manufacturing industry went through three stages: southwest, then southeast, and then southwest. Overall, it cannot be separated from the scope of the central region. The westward shift of the manufacturing industry center from 2002 to 2017 is closely related to promoting the rise of the central region. The most significant change in the rise of the central region is the rise of industries. The data shows that its national strategic emerging industry cluster and national advanced manufacturing industry cluster account for 27.3% and 17.8% of the national total, respectively. There are 82500 high-tech enterprises, accounting for 21% of the total of approximately 400000 in China. In 2023, the production of new energy vehicles in Anhui Province reached 868000 units, an increase of 60.5%. Zhengzhou China Railway Equipment's shield tunneling machine production and sales volume ranked first in the world for six consecutive years. Moreover, adjacent to the eastern region and closely connected to developed coastal areas through multiple world-class waterways and high-speed rail networks, the central region is naturally an important support for the construction of modern industrial clusters. Against the backdrop of the global industry's transition from "offshore manufacturing" to "nearshore manufacturing", this is of great significance for the overall security of the Chinese economy. Returning to Guangdong, in the face of complex factors such as international relations and global competition, as well as the transformation of the industrial system and development momentum from old to new, in order to maintain development momentum and improve development quality, it is necessary to rely more on the unified national market, optimize industrial layout in more regions of the country, achieve deep economic linkage, enhance economic depth, and thus enhance the overall competitiveness of the economy. The Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area needs to fully leverage the new advantages of "one point, two places", and Guangdong's economy needs to continue to "take on the big beam". It is imperative to further strengthen cooperation and linkage with major regions across the country, including the central region. Key infrastructure projects such as the Gan Yue Grand Canal, with a total planned length of nearly 2000 kilometers, have been included in the national plan; Leading companies such as BYD and Huawei are laying out their industrial chains in cities such as Wuhan and Hefei; At the beginning of this year, a delegation from the Party and government of Anhui Province came to Guangdong for inspection and exchange, promoting the sharing of scientific and technological innovation resources, platform construction, talent exchange, and achievement transfer and transformation between the two regions, especially in promoting cooperation in the new energy vehicle industry cluster. The collaboration between Guangdong, the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, and the central region is a "two-way trip" between the two regions, which is conducive to promoting more coordinated regional development across the country, assisting in the construction of a unified national market, and better integrating and supporting the new development pattern. (Lai Xin She)
Edit：Lubaikang Responsible editor：Chenze
Source：Southern DAILY
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