The logic of China’s provincial development is changing.
Recently, the national development and Reform Commission issued the key tasks for the development of new urbanization and urban-rural integration in 2022, which clearly requires “strictly control the expansion of provincial capital cities” , and new changes are taking place in the general leading mode of provincial development in China.
At the same time, the expression “provincial sub central city” also began to appear frequently in many official documents.
Qin Zunwen, a researcher of Hubei Academy of Social Sciences, is a scholar who put forward the concept of “provincial sub central city” earlier in China. In July 2001, Qin Zunwen first proposed the concept of “provincial sub central city” in his written proposal to the Hubei provincial Party committee and the provincial government based on the imbalance between the East and the west of the economic development of Hubei Province; In May 2002, he advocated that Hubei implement the strategic layout of “one master and two deputy” with Wuhan as the main center and Xiangfan (now Xiangyang) and Yichang as the sub centers, which were adopted. In August 2003, the urban system planning of Hubei Province approved by the State Council positioned Xiangyi and Yichang as “provincial sub central cities”, setting a precedent in the country.
It has been 21 years since the concept of provincial sub center came out. Over the years, many provinces and cities have followed up and learned from Hubei ideas according to incomplete statistics, nearly 50 cities across the country were called “provincial sub centers” at the peak. Within the province, the competition of prefecture level cities for “provincial sub central cities” also tends to be fierce
How to understand the two provincial development ideas of expanding and strengthening the provincial council and building a provincial sub center? Which kind of region is more suitable for the development of provincial sub central cities? In an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, Qin Zunwen believed that there is no absolute contradiction between expanding and strengthening the provincial council and building a provincial sub central city. For example, Jiangxi has not only stressed the need to expand and strengthen Nanchang in recent years, but also proposed to develop the provincial sub central city Ganzhou. “When a provincial capital is relatively weak, the strategy of ‘Strengthening the provincial capital’ will be emphasized. However, as long as there are still problems in the regional coordination of the province, it is necessary to develop provincial sub central cities.”
how to “select” the provincial sub central city
Is there a rigid threshold for the standards of provincial sub central cities? In response to this problem, many experts interviewed clearly pointed out that although there is no clear definition of provincial sub central cities and no hard indicators, the selection principles still have rules to follow.
The spatial distance from the main central city is considered by many scholars to be a relatively rigid constraint. In Qin Zunwen’s view, the provincial sub central city must have a certain spatial distance from the main central city “the reason for setting up a sub central city is to make up for the places that the main central city and the provincial capital city can’t reach.”
Further, the selection of provincial sub central cities is not ranked by GDP. Qin Zunwen analyzed Guangdong as an example. Foshan and Guangzhou are closely connected, and the GDP has long exceeded trillion. However, Foshan is not a provincial sub central city, because the urban areas between Guangzhou and Foshan have been connected. Ezhou and Huangshi in Hubei are also economically strong cities, but they are too close to Wuhan to be provincial sub central cities generally speaking, if the sub central city is connected with the main central city, even if the economic volume is large, it can not be a sub central city. Such a city can only help each other with the main central city, continue to be bigger and stronger, and become a joint main central city to jointly drive the development of the whole province is 200 to 300 kilometers away from the main central city, which is a suitable interval for establishing provincial sub central cities. Because the one hour commute circle of the central city basically covers about 100 kilometers, if it is too close, it is difficult to play the role of the sub center.
In an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, Chen Yao, vice president and Secretary General of the China regional economic society and chief expert of the National Central City Research Institute of Zhengzhou normal university, pointed out that becoming a new development engine is the due meaning of the sub central city. Therefore, in addition to the spatial distance, the development foundation of the city itself is also the focus.
This can be seen from the cases of “failure” of some cities in competing for sub centers. In 2019, Hunan Changde proposed to “strive to build a provincial sub center city”. However, in Hunan’s 14th five year plan, only Yueyang and Hengyang were selected as the “provincial sub center”. Changde lost the election, an important reason is the traffic short board. In 2019, Changde Daily reported that “traffic construction is the short board of Changde’s development and the pain point of the city’s people.” In recent years, Changde has also made efforts to make up for the traffic shortcomings.
“Whether it is the main center or the sub center, one of the most basic conditions of the so-called center is the transportation hub. If the center wants to gather population, economy, industry and other factor resources, it must rely on the developed transportation system.” Chen Yao pointed out that a comprehensive and three-dimensional transportation network can support the long-term development of the center only if the means of transportation such as railways, highways, ports and airports are relatively complete.
\u3000\u3000 “The sub center must be a regional transportation hub, which can concentrate and evacuate the surrounding people and logistics. For example, in Hubei, Yichang and Xiangyang are national comprehensive transportation hubs in addition to Wuhan. Yichang’s Three Gorges International Airport is a regional aviation hub, and many people will choose it by plane in Jingmen and Jingzhou. Xiangyang is a railway hub and a central city in the Han River Basin. Transportation is very important for the development of the Three Gorges International Airport It is a relatively important factor for these two cities to establish a sub central position. ” Qin Zunwen said.
deputy center needs to play the role of “Deputy monitor”
What is the relationship between provincial sub central cities and main central cities? In response to this problem, Qin Zunwen was asked by the media as early as 2007. At that time, he described the relationship between the two as “main monitor” and “Deputy monitor”.
“When I first mentioned the monitor and Deputy monitor, I meant that the provincial deputy central city should assist the provincial central city and the provincial capital, so as to drive the development of the surrounding areas. First, we should undertake the radiation of the provincial capital city, including industrial transfer, and second, we should amplify and transmit the radiation to the surrounding areas. If we don’t amplify or radiate, we can’t be regarded as a provincial deputy central city if we only do well ourselves.” Qin Zunwen said.
Specifically, compared with provincial central cities, the radiation range of provincial sub central cities is smaller, but it is larger than that of ordinary prefecture level cities. “General regional central cities, in addition to their own development, should also drive the surrounding areas. There are also some prefecture level cities, who can not drive, can only develop themselves. These prefecture level cities are called regional central cities.”
Qin Zunwen believes that the provincial capital cities basically radiate the whole province, or at least most parts of the province. In addition to themselves, the provincial sub central cities also drive two or three prefecture level cities or even a wider range. In the final analysis, the provincial sub central city is to make up for the shortage of the provincial capital central city and help drive the development of the whole province, rather than replace the central city, “just as the Deputy monitor assists the monitor in his work.”
How can provincial sub central cities drive the surrounding development? Qin Zunwen believes that industrial driving is a very important aspect. Although it is not ranked by GDP, the industrial driving capacity of sub central cities needs to be relatively strong.
Some places have large jurisdiction, poor quality of economic growth, low level of industrial structure and large pile of GDP, but the per capita GDP is not good. Such cities cannot be provincial sub central cities if you want to become a sub center, you must have a strong industrial foundation and strong industrial driving ability to drive the development of the surrounding areas
science and education support and market vitality are also important factors to become the “Deputy monitor” in terms of science and education, if the city has a large number of scientific research institutes, even national scientific research institutes, and has certain innovation ability in science and technology, it can form a driving effect on the surrounding areas. At the same time, the sub center should also be a regional consumption center, and the surrounding cities can often come for consumption and tourism. “For example, Yichang, Hubei Province is a typical sub central city. People around Yichang will come to buy furniture, household appliances and building materials. Shennongjia, Enshi and other cities and counties around Yichang will also choose to buy houses and provide for the aged in Yichang.” Qin Zunwen said.
Chen Yao believes that the development of provincial sub central cities, in addition to driving the surrounding areas, is also conducive to the transfer of non provincial capital functions, so as to realize the high-quality development of central cities. “For example, some low-end industries, large wholesale markets and logistics distribution centers should not be concentrated in the provincial capital. Now some non provincial capital functions are transferred to the sub center and other surrounding areas, and the provincial capital can make room for high-quality development. Therefore, cultivating provincial sub center cities is also of great significance to improve the development quality of provincial capital cities.”
explore the path of provincial development differentiation
According to incomplete statistics, by the end of 2021, in the national provincial government work report, the 14th five year plan, the report of the Party Congress and other official documents, a total of 9 provinces and 16 cities have clearly proposed to build a “provincial sub central city”. Among these provinces, there are two strong Eastern Economic provinces, Guangdong and Jiangsu, as well as central and western provinces represented by Henan and Guangxi.
Due to different resource endowments, location conditions and development stages, the eastern, central and western provinces have different positioning for building provincial sub central cities. Looking to the future, what are the differences in the provincial development logic of the East, central and western regions?
Qin Zunwen pointed out that the provincial coordination in the eastern region is slightly better. Next, on the basis of consolidating and improving the provincial central cities, we can support the development of sub central cities. The specific strategy is to increase the number of provincial sub centers to make the province more balanced.
“At present, there is a problem in the eastern provinces, that is, few provinces have set up provincial sub central cities. At present, only Guangdong Province and Jiangsu Province have provincial sub central cities. In fact, many provincial capitals in the eastern region are located on the side, so it is necessary to set up Provincial sub central cities. For example, Hangzhou is located in the northeast of Zhejiang, and the vast areas in the central and southern part of Zhejiang need to set up provincial sub central cities. This year’s” two sessions of Zhejiang Province ” “Some deputies to the National People’s Congress and members of the Chinese people’s Political Consultative Conference suggested that Wenzhou be set as a provincial sub central city. Another example is that Heilongjiang Province has a large area and the provincial capital Harbin is located to the south. In view of this situation, Heilongjiang can consider setting up more than two provincial sub central cities.” Qin Zunwen said.
It is worth mentioning that the eastern provinces are generally more developed than the mainland, but the economic volume of some provincial capitals is not the largest in the province, and they are also facing the problem of unbalanced regional development. In response to this problem, the dynamic mechanism of “dual core + Dual sub centers” in Guangdong has been continuously promoted. In the work report of Guangdong Provincial Government in 2021, the functional positioning of Shantou and Zhanjiang provincial sub central cities has been strengthened.
In this regard, Qin Zunwen suggested that eastern provinces such as Zhejiang and Jiangsu can also learn from the practice of “two main and two deputy” in Guangdong. “For example, in Jiangsu, there are two centers in Nanjing and Suzhou, and two sub centers in Xuzhou and Nantong. In addition to Nanjing, Suzhou connects with Wuxi and Changzhou, Xuzhou connects with Jiangsu Lianyungang Port Co.Ltd(601008) and other cities in Northern Jiangsu, and Nantong connects with Taizhou and Yancheng.”
For the central region, the number of provincial sub central cities is not a prominent problem. For example, there are three provincial sub central cities in Shanxi and Jiangxi, and two provincial sub central cities in Hunan and Hubei. “The provincial sub centers in the central region have developed earlier and more balanced. The key problem of at present is to improve the quality. by contrast, the provincial sub center cities in the western region are generally small, so the next step is to optimize the layout of sub center cities and expand the scale of cities.”
“In short, the central and western regions should become bigger and stronger provincial councils and provincial sub central cities. There are still relatively few sub central cities in the eastern region, and the next step is to become major and sub central cities.” Qin Zunwen summarized.
