Regional Economic Development in China

9. Bohai Rim's Regional Development: Problems and Policy Options

Bohai฀Rim’s฀Regional฀Development฀ 179 9 Bohai Rim’s Regional Development: Problems and Policy Options Zhou Liqun and Shu Ping INTRODUCTION฀ Located฀ at฀ the฀ heart฀ of฀ Northeast฀ Asia฀ and฀ along฀ the฀ coast฀ of฀ the฀ West฀ Pacific,฀ the฀ Bohai฀ Rim฀ comprises฀ two฀ municipalities฀ and฀ three฀ provinces฀ (Beijing,฀Tianjin,฀Hebei,฀Liaoning฀and฀Shandong).1 ฀It฀covers฀5.43฀per฀cent฀ of฀ China’s฀ total฀ area,฀ and฀ houses฀ a฀ population฀ of฀ 231.34฀ million,฀ which฀ accounts฀ for฀ 17.60฀ per฀ cent฀ of฀ China’s฀ total฀ population.2 ฀ In฀ 2006,฀ the฀ Bohai฀Rim฀contributed฀26.19฀per฀cent฀of฀China’s฀gross฀domestic฀product฀ (GDP),฀ 26.62฀ per฀ cent฀ of฀ China’s฀ total฀ profit฀ and฀ 21.85฀ per฀ cent฀ of฀ China’s฀ total฀ imports฀ and฀ exports.3 ฀ The฀ Bohai฀ Rim,฀ together฀ with฀ Pearl฀ River฀ Delta฀ (PRD)฀ and฀ Yangtze฀ River฀ Delta฀ (YRD),฀ forms฀ China’s฀ three฀ biggest฀industrial฀belts.4 Benefiting฀ from฀ the฀ ‘eastward฀ moving’฀ trend฀ of฀ investments฀ in฀ the฀ world฀ and฀ the฀ ‘northward฀ moving’฀ trend฀ of฀ development฀ in฀ China,฀ the฀ Bohai฀ Rim฀ has฀ drawn฀ the฀ attention฀ of฀ the฀ world฀ in฀ recent฀ years.฀ After฀ the฀Binhai฀New฀Area฀of฀Tianjin฀was฀officially฀designated฀the฀experimental฀ 09฀RegEDC.indd฀฀฀179 7/3/09฀฀฀10:07:07฀AM 180฀ Zhou฀Liqun฀and฀Shu฀Ping zone฀for฀comprehensive฀reform,5 ฀Tianjin฀was฀defined฀by฀the฀State฀Council฀ as฀ the฀ economic฀ centre฀ of฀ North฀ China฀ and฀ Beijing฀ was฀ delineated฀ as฀ “China’s฀capital,฀metropolis,฀culturally฀well-known฀city฀and฀suitable฀city฀for฀ residence”.6 ฀These฀have฀brought฀new฀opportunities฀for฀economic฀cooperation฀ in฀ the฀ area.฀ The฀ Bohai฀ Rim฀ is฀ expected฀ to฀ become฀ the฀ third฀ economic฀ growth฀engine฀for฀China.฀ The฀ Bohai฀ Rim’s฀ regional฀ economic฀ development฀ has฀ great฀ potential.฀ But฀ regional฀ economic฀ cooperation฀ in฀ the฀ area฀ is฀ more฀ like฀ a฀ “proposal”,฀ far฀ behind฀ the฀ regional฀ economic฀ integration฀ process฀ in฀ the฀ YRD฀ and฀ the฀PRD,฀although฀the฀concept฀of฀the฀‘Bohai฀Rim฀Economic฀Circle’฀was฀ first฀ suggested฀ in฀ the฀ mid฀ 1980s.7 ฀The฀ lack฀ of฀ cooperation฀ increased฀ the฀ development฀cost฀of฀the฀region฀and฀the฀traditional฀economic฀growth฀pattern฀ has฀brought฀environmental฀crisis฀which฀is฀increasing฀severe฀restrictions฀on฀ the฀economic฀development฀of฀the฀region.฀ THE฀OVERVIEW฀OF฀THE฀BOHAI฀RIM’S฀ECONOMIC฀ DEVELOPMENT The฀Bohai฀Rim฀is฀an฀important฀base฀for฀both฀basic฀and฀high-tech฀industries฀ in฀China.฀Its฀share฀of฀China’s฀GDP฀has฀remained฀above฀20฀per฀cent฀since฀ the฀1950s฀(see฀Figure฀9.1).฀ During฀ the฀ past฀ three฀ decades฀ China฀ has฀ experienced฀ extraordinary฀ economic฀ growth,฀ but฀ the฀ growth฀ was฀ uneven฀ at฀ the฀ regional฀ levels.฀The฀ establishment฀of฀Shenzhen฀Special฀Economic฀Zone฀in฀1980฀drove฀the฀rise฀ of฀the฀PRD฀and฀led฀it฀to฀be฀an฀important฀manufacturing฀powerhouse฀and฀ the฀most฀economically฀dynamic฀region฀of฀China.฀Its฀average฀Gross฀Regional฀ Product฀(GRP)฀growth฀rate฀from฀1980฀to฀1991฀was฀12.55฀per฀cent,฀much฀ higher฀than฀the฀country’s฀GDP฀growth฀level฀(8.5฀per฀cent฀during฀the฀period).฀ But,฀ the฀ rates฀ for฀ the฀YRD฀ and฀ the฀ Bohai฀ Rim฀ were฀ only฀ 9.39฀ per฀ cent฀ and฀8.25฀per฀cent,฀respectively.฀For฀Tianjin฀and฀Liaoning฀in฀particular,฀for฀ most฀ of฀ the฀ years฀ during฀ this฀ period,฀ their฀ growth฀ rates฀ were฀ lower฀ than฀ the฀country’s฀average.฀ The฀YRD฀got฀its฀chance฀in฀the฀1990s.฀After฀the฀establishment฀of฀the฀ Shanghai฀Pudong฀New฀Area฀in฀1992,฀the฀local฀governments฀in฀the฀YRD฀ began฀to฀implement฀far-reaching฀reforms฀and฀the฀result฀has฀been฀economic฀ growth฀rates฀higher฀than฀other฀parts฀of฀China. Statistics฀ show฀ that฀ the฀ average฀ annual฀ GDP฀ growth฀ rate฀ was฀ 9.96฀ per฀ cent฀ for฀ China฀ from฀ 1992฀ to฀ 2005,฀ but฀ the฀ average฀ rate฀ for฀ the฀ YRD฀ was฀ 13.56฀ per฀ cent.฀ The฀ PRD’s฀ average฀ rate฀ remained฀ at฀ the฀ ฀ high฀ level฀ of฀ 13.97฀ per฀ cent฀ during฀ the฀ period.฀ The฀ rate฀ for฀ the฀ Bohai฀ 09฀RegEDC.indd฀฀฀180 7/3/09฀฀฀10:07:08฀AM Bohai฀Rim’s฀Regional฀Development฀ 181 Rim฀ increased฀ to฀ 12.09฀ per฀ cent,฀ lower฀ than฀ that฀ of฀ the฀ PRD฀ and฀ the฀ YRD฀ but฀ higher฀ than฀ the฀ country’s฀ average.฀ The฀ GRP฀ growth฀ rates฀ for฀ the฀ five฀ provinces฀ in฀ the฀ Bohai฀ Rim฀ were฀ all฀ higher฀ than฀ the฀ country’s฀ average฀since฀1997.฀ The฀development฀of฀the฀Binhai฀New฀Area฀of฀Tianjin฀is฀widely฀expected฀ to฀ do฀ for฀ the฀ Bohai฀ Rim฀ what฀ Shenzhen’s฀ reforms฀ did฀ for฀ the฀ PRD฀ in฀ the฀ 1980s฀ and฀ the฀ Pudong฀ New฀ Area฀ of฀ Shanghai฀ for฀ the฀ YRD฀ in...