Urbanization Helps to Balance Development

Cities in Central China are growing stronger, while the north-south divide is a yawning one

In 2018, wrestling with the rapidly changing international situation and industrial transformation, China saw some changes in urbanization: the rise of central cities and the widening of its north-south divide.

First, thanks to some industrial relocation from the eastern seaboard to the hinterland, cities in Central China have grown stronger. Since 2013, both the spillover effects from the eastern economic hubs and the modern transportation network have brought the eastern coastal areas closer to the central inland provinces than ever before.

This has resulted in a number of megapolises, juxtaposing both eastern and central cities, coming up over a vast area and creating constant influx of people to the central region. In 2018, the eastern-central region became the most densely populated part of the country, accounting for 65 percent of the national population.

The overall competitiveness among central cities has been on a steady rise, according to the 2018 Urban Competitiveness Report of China. Star central cities such as Wuhan in Hubei province, Zhengzhou in Henan province, and Xi'an in Shaanxi province have played distinctive roles in driving growth in their megapolises and provinces.

The bellwether eastern megacities and the rising central cities have thus accelerated the economic integration of the east and the center and will create favorable conditions to develop backward regions.

At the same time, the polarity between the north and the south has become even more acute. On the one hand, since China embarked on a path of openness and global competition, its northeastern rust belt and old industrial cities in central and western regions have been on the wane, lagging far behind eastern cities.

On the other hand, some northern cities with weak manufacturing bases are mired in a raft of economic and social problems, as they once resorted to infrastructure and government investment to induce growth. In addition, compared with southern cities, most northern cities are facing a grimmer reality of resource depletion and environmental deterioration.

Culturally, the north does not have a mercantile tradition, nor does it have a business environment as sound as that of the south.

The gap between the northern and southern cities is actually yawning. Among the top 10 Chinese cities of 2018, only one northern city, Beijing, has made the cut; among the top 20, only two make the cut: Beijing and Tianjin. The two cities and Zhengzhou in Henan province as well as Qingdao and Ji'nan in Shandong province are the only five northern cities in the top 30 competitive Chinese cities; the remaining 25 cities are all in the south.

The north lacks powerhouse megacities that can fuel regional development and generate a cluster effect. A comparison of the competitive reports of 2017 and 2018 shows the competitiveness of southern cities has increased while the competitiveness of northern cities has declined. The bleak northeast will continue to go downhill as the dynamic southeast will keep chugging along.

The central region is critical as it is well-positioned to narrow the south-north gap, to integrate the central and the eastern regions, and to achieve balanced development and shared prosperity. And the regional complementarity, which has contributed to the rise of Central China, will further boost growth and upgrading in East China.

Cities in the eastern-central region can paddle their own canoe. Those in the northern-western region need more help.

In this way, the northeast and the west could become the new frontier of opening-up, and the eastern and central parts will be closer, thus forming an increasingly integrated super center of a vaster area.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government is expected to give full play to the market and cut its administrative red tape. It should tear down the regional barriers by promoting the free flow of goods, ideas and personnel as well as encouraging industrial upgrading, balanced development and international competition. For example, it is a good idea to accelerate the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, where lots of Chinese cities are located, making the belt an example of ecological preservation and green development, and an engine to develop cross-regional cooperation between major economic belts.

Ni Pengfei is director of the Center for City and Competitiveness at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Xu Haidong is a PhD candidate at Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The authors contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily Global 10/14/2019 page13)