Counties can be the new growth engines of economy

Many ministries under the State Council must be busy formulating policies and measures to boost China's county-level economy. For many years, there have been discussions about ways to develop China's county-level economy — known as xianyu jingji in Chinese — but it has never been given the emphasis it is now receiving. Xianyu jingji is a key term in the country's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) that will start this year.

When tourists and business people come to China, they are most likely to visit big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. During my years as a journalist, I visited dozens of Chinese cities, including all provincial capitals. But it would be na?ve for anyone to claim to know China until they have had a thorough understanding of the country's counties, many of which have existed for more than 2,000 years since the first emperor Qin Shi Huang unified the country and introduced county-level administration.

The more than 1,800 counties in China cover about 93 percent of the country's territory, house 70 percent of its 1.4 billion citizens and account for about 60 percent of its GDP. These counties vary in size and population. The largest county stretches over 200,000 square kilometers — roughly the size of Belarus — while the smallest is just 86 square kilometers. The most populous county has 2.47 million registered residents while the least populous has only 10,600 people.

These counties are under the administration of provincial capitals or district-level cities. Nearly 400 better-developed counties have been designated as cities though they remain under the supervision of district-level cities as counties.

The difference in population, resources and investment environment means that the counties are at different levels of economic development. Along the eastern coast, each of the 62 counties has an annual GDP of more than 100 billion yuan ($14.38 billion), with Kunshan boasting a GDP of 500 billion yuan for several years, outshining many provincial capitals. In 2024, Kunshan's per capita GDP of 240,000 yuan was about eight times the average GDP of 30,000 yuan in many western counties.

This glaring gap underscores the need for tailored development strategies for different regions. The counties on the eastern coast should be encouraged to upgrade their products through scientific innovation and shift the pollution-prone and labor-intensive industries westward to the less-developed counties.

The counties in the central and western areas, on the other hand, should focus on increasing agricultural productivity by employing advanced machinery and introducing high-yielding rice, wheat and corn seeds. As for the mountainous counties, there is enormous tourism potential. Nearly 84 percent of China's world natural heritage sites are located in these counties. They should promote home-stays and dining services so that villagers can earn income without leaving their communities.

The development of the county-level economy is essential for achieving China's broader goal to basically realize modernization before the end of 2035. Many economists believe that accelerating urbanization can help achieve that target. The most effective way is to create more jobs in counties. If local farmers get reliable jobs, they may choose to settle down in the county headquarters as non-agricultural residents. Some county headquarters along the eastern coast already have around 250,000 residents.

Jobs can be created only when a locality enjoys a favorable business environment and development prospects. The central and local governments should encourage investors to pour capital into the central and western counties. Governments at different levels should develop the infrastructure in the central and western areas to create a better investment environment for the counties there. The county governments should play to their strengths and take full advantage of their unique characteristics and the preferential policies.

I have visited a number of counties in the western regions of Gansu and Qinghai provinces and also been to Kunshan in Jiangsu province and Yiwu in Zhejiang province several times. There is a huge difference between the western and eastern counties and I believe it is necessary to give special attention to the western counties to help them catch up.

There are bound to be challenges ahead and it might take a long time before the county-level economy gets fully developed. But now that the central authorities are focusing on xianyu jingji, we can look forward to these growth engines powering the country's economic development.

The author is former deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily.

kangbing@chinadaily.com.cn