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article that having
new ideas is crucial to the development of the west. Over the course of
reform and opening to the outside world during the past two decades, the
western regions of China actually had many favorable opportunities for
development, but local economies have not taken off in general. An important
reason for this is that the development and transformation of the urban
economy there have always been overlooked. According to statistics, there were 231 cities at and above the prefectural
level in China at the end of 1998. The GDP of all these cities (counties
under the jurisdiction of these cities are excluded; the same below) totaled
3,655.7 yuan, up 13.2 percent from the previous year, far outnumbering
the average national growth rate of 7.8 percent. This makes up 44 percent
of the national GDP figure. The role of the urban economy is outstanding.
But of this GDP figure, the cities in the western regions share a proportion
of only 12.64 percent. Among 45 cities whose GDP topped 20 billion yuan,
only seven are in the west. None of the five cities whose GDP topped 100
billion are in the west. Of 34 cities whose per capita GDP surpassed 10,000
yuan, the majority are located in the eastern coastal areas except for
a few western cities which have tobacco and mineral production as their
leading industries. Lacking the cohesion of
the various factors driving economic growth is a crucial reason
for western regions lagging behind in development. The key to the increasing
gap in the development between the eastern and western regions lies in
the increasing gap in urban development between these regions. To develop the west requires a change of mind from the traditional strategy
of ˇ°giving full play to advantagesˇ± to the strategy of ˇ°overcoming disadvantages.ˇ±
How can we overcome disadvantages? The new strategic thinking should give
priority to the development of the urban economy, which is the optimal
point for coordinating various contradictions. This will help lighten
the pressure of development on the natural environment, overcome the disadvantage
of vulnerable ecological environment, and guarantee effective utilization
of resources. During the coming 15 or more years, not only should the
existing provincial capital cities develop rapidly, but also efforts should
be made to develop a few medium-sized economic centers, allowing cities
to play the leading role. |
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