Li Shantong & Hou Yongzhi Research Report No 193, 2002

I. Division of China’s Regions

China is a vast country with a territory of 9.6 million square kilometers. In 2001, its population totaled 1.28 billion. Due to historical and many other reasons, there exists a wide development gap between different regions of the country. For example, Shanghai’s per capita GDP in 2001 was as high as 37,382 yuan while that of Guizhou Province was only 2,895 yuan, which was less than one-tenth of the former. For this reason, it is necessary to divide China into several regions when are study the country’s regional issues.

In the 1950s, some institutions divided China’s mainland into the coastal and inland regions. In the 1960s, China’s mainland was divided into the first-line, second-line and third-line regions. After China began reform and opening up, a variety of dividing methods were put forward with the deepening of the studies of regional economies. The main methods are as follows.

(i) Three major regions. This method divides China into three major regions: the east, the central and the west. But each region covers different geographic scopes in different periods. When this method was first put forward, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was once regarded as part of the east region and Inner Mongolia as part of the central region. Later on, many objections were put forward against this method. With the implementation of the western development strategy, the geographic scopes of the three major regions were gradually decided. The east region includes 11 provinces and municipalities: Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong and Hainan. The central region covers eight provinces: Shanxi, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan. The west region is made up of 12 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions: Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Guangxi and Inner Mongolia.

(ii) Six integrated economic regions. They are the northeast region, the mid- and down stream -Yellow River region, the mid- and down stream -Yangtze River region, the southeast coastal region, the southwest region and the northwest region.

(iii) Seven major economic regions. They are the northeast region made up of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang; the northwest region made up of Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang; the north region made up of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Inner Mongolia and Shanxi; the east region made up of Shandong, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang; the central region made up of Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan; the south region made up of Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan; and the southwest region made up of Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Tibet.

(iv) Nine major economic regions. There are two dividing methods. With the first method, the northeast region comprises three northeast provinces and the eastern part of Inner Mongolia; the Bohai Rim region comprises Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shangdong; the mid - stream Yellow River region comprises Shanxi, Henan and the central and western part of Inner Mongolia; the Yangtze River Delta region comprises Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang; the mid - stream Yangtze River region comprises Hubei, Hunan, Anhui and Jiangxi; the southeast coastal region comprises Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan; the northwest region comprises Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang; and the southwest region comprises Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. With the second method, the northeast region consists of three northeast provinces; the north coastal region consists of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong; the north inland region consists of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia; the east coastal region consists of Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang; the east inland region consists of Henan, Anhui and Jiangxi; the central inland region consists of Hunan and Hubei; the south coastal region consists of Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan; the west inland region consists of Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang and Tibet; and the southwest inland region consists of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou.

(v) Nine major metropolitan economic regions. The Shenda region includes Shenyang and Dalian; the Jingjinji region includes Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan, Qinhuangdao and Shijiazhuang; the Jiqing region includes Jinan, Qingdao and Yantai; the greater Shanghai region includes Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Ningbo and Hangzhou; the Pearl River Delta region includes Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou; the Jihei region includes Changchun and Harbin; the Xiang’egan region includes Wuhan, Changsha and Nanchang; and the Chengyu region includes Chengdu and Chongqing.

In general, the existing dividing methods are quite chaotic. But the "three major regions" method seems to be more acceptable to the government due to various reasons.

Regional dividing should consider both the general law of regional economic development and the convenience in studying regional development and analyzing regional policies. In view of foreign experience and China’s national conditions, we believe that in order to facilitate the study of regional issues and the analysis of regional policies, China’s regional division should follow the following nine principles: (1) geographic closeness; (2) similarity in natural conditions and resource endowment; (3) similarity in economic development level; (4) close economic links or similar development problems; (5) similarity in social structure; (6) proper size; (7) historical continuity; (8) integrity of administrative division; and (9) convenience for studying regional issues and analyzing regional policies.

In view of the above principles, we may discover that all the aforesaid dividing methods have certain shortcomings. Some geographic coverage is too large, and therefore is inconvenient for in-depth analysis of regional differences; some dividing methods fail to preserve the completeness of administrative divisions and are inconvenient for gathering and studying the data about their social and economic development; some methods fail to consider historical continuity and run counter to common sense; and some geographic coverage is incomplete and cannot constitute a complete geographic division.

In line with the above principles and in view of the shortcomings of the existing dividing methods, we divide China’s mainland into the following eight major regions:

1. The northeast region, which comprises three provinces: Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The region has an area of 790,000 square kilometers and a population of 106.96 million in 2001. The three provinces have similar natural conditions and resource endowment and a close historical link. At present, they are facing many common problems such as the exhaustion of resources and the upgrading of industrial structure.

2. The north coastal region, which comprises two municipalities and two provinces: Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong. The region has an area of 370,000 square kilometers and a population of 181.27 million in 2001. This region enjoys a favorable geographic location, convenient transportation and developed education and culture. Its performance in opening to the outside world has been outstanding.

3. The east coastal region, which comprises one municipality and two provinces: Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It has an area of 210,000 square kilometers and a population of 135.82 million in 2001. This region is noted for the early start of modernization and its close historical links with foreign economies. With rich human capital and development advantages, it has taken up the lead in many areas of reform and opening up.

4. The south coastal region, which comprises three provinces: Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan. It has an area of 330,000 square kilometers and a population of 120.19 million in 2001. Being close to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, this region has rich overseas social resources and has a high degree of opening.

5. The mid- stream Yellow River region, which comprises three provinces and one autonomous region: Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Inner Mongolia. It has an area of 1.6 million square kilometers and a population of 188.63 million in 2001. This region is famous for natural resources, especially rich in coal and natural gas resources. Being an inland region, it occupies an important strategic position. However, its opening to the outside world is insufficient and its task in structural adjustment is tedious.

6. The mid- stream Yangtze River region, which comprises four provinces: Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui. It has an area of 680,000 square kilometers and a popultion of 230.85 million in 2001. This region has excellent conditions for agricultural production and a dense population. However, its opening has been limited and its pressure from industrial transformation is enormous.

7. The southwest region, which comprises three provinces, one municipality and one autonomous region: Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Chongqing and Guangxi. It has an area of 1.34 million square kilometers and a population of 246.11 million in 2001. Being in the hinterland, this region is noted for poor soil and impoverished population. However, it has an advantage of opening to Southeast Asia.

8. The great northwest region, which comprises two provinces and three autonomous regions: Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Tibet and Xinjiang. It has an area of 3.98 million square kilometers and a population of 58 million in 2001. This region is noted for poor natural conditions, sparse population and limited market. It possesses certain conditions for opening westward.

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