Download Build Economic Corridor alongside of Yellow River – On Tendency... Rising in Central Plain Region

Build Economic Corridor alongside of Yellow River – On Tendency of
Rising in Central Plain Region
WEN Guoming
Xi’an University of Technology, College of Business Administration
Abstract The Rise of Central Plains is a strategic plan of the provincial government of Henan and an
important part of the Rise of Central China proposed by the Chinese government. In the light of
previous studies on the theory of the rise of Central Plains, the author opens a new road—that is to
develop an economic corridor along the Yellow River and to cultivate industrial groups so as to build up
an bulging economic region to drive the economic development of the Central Plains.
Key Words The Rise of Central China, The Rise of Central Plains, economic corridor, industrial
groups
To change the backward situation of Central China, the Chinese government puts forward the strategy of
“The Rise of Central China”. As the biggest province of the six provinces in Central China, the
development road and development methods of Henan will directly influence the implementation of this
national strategy. Taking this into consideration, the provincial government of Henan took decisive
measures and put forward the strategy of “the Rise of Central Plains”. The author believes that to build
an economic corridor is a new road to realize the Rise of Central Plains.
1
The Rise of Central China vs. The Rise of Central Plains
1.1
The Rise of Central China
Central China refers to the six provinces in Central China, including Hubei, Hunan, Henan, Anhui,
Jiangxi and Shanxi. Since the introduction of Reform and Opening Up to the Outside World, the
economic development of Central China has made great progress. However, compared with the eastern
coastal area, Central China laps far behind in economic amount and at the level of economic
development. Statistics shows that, from 1978 to 2005, Central China, which constitutes 30% of the
national population, only occupies 26% of China’s GDP and 3% of the national volume of import and
export. Its usage of foreign funds is below 7% of that of the national total. As far as investment is
concerned, in 2005, the national investment in fixed assets occupies 48.6% of the national GDP, while
that of the central six provinces is 44.3%—4.3% lower than the national percentage. The national
average per capita investment is 6776, while that of the central six provinces is 4474,Only 66% of
the National Average level. To change this backward situation, the Chinese government attached great
importance to the development of the Central China and put forward the strategy of the Rise of Central
China. In April, 2006, the Central Government issued Several Opinions of the State Council on
Promoting the Rise of Central China, emphasizing the importance of Central China in China’s economic
and social development. This document says that the development situation of the Central China has
bearing on the overall situation of China’s economic and social development, on the construction of
building a well-off society in an all-round way. Therefore, we must take effective and feasible measures
and puts forward preferential policies to promote the economic and social development of Central
China.
￥
￥
1.2 The Rise of Central Plains
Henan is located at the heart of the six central provinces. Its population and economic amount are the
largest among the six Central China provinces. To make full use of its advantages and to take the
initiation, the provincial government of Henan put forward the strategy of the Rise of Central Plains
which takes Zhengzhou as the center, and groups together nine cities within its vicinity (about 500
kilometers). These cities drive the economic development of Henan and set an example for other five
central China province.
928
1.3
Inadequate Attention to The Rise of Central Plains and the Opinion of this Paper
the Provincial government of Henan has consulted many experts and scholars during the
implementation of the strategy of “The Rise of Central China”. The experts and scholars put forward
many feasible methods and sound ideas, but none of them thought of to build an economic corridor
along the Yellow River, and this is the opinion of this paper: Since the cities along the Yellow Bank
enjoy good economic foundation, unique geographic location, good infrastructure and rich resources and
are famous for the Yellow River Civilization and Central Plains Culture, it is feasible for them to
cultivate industrial groups, to build up a corridor along the Yellow River so as to form a bulging
economic region to promote the economy of Henan and to realize the Rise of Central Plains.
2
The Scope and Status Quo of the Central Plains’ Economic Corridor Along
the Yellow River (shortened as Economic Corridor below)
2.1
Scope
The Economic Corridor refers to the cities of Henan within the economic belt along the Yellow
River, including eight prefecture-level cities—Sanmenxia, Luoyang, Jiyuan, Zhengzhou, Jiaozuo,
Xinxiang, Kaifeng, Puyang—and nineteen counties under their jurisdiction, such as Shanxian, Mianchi
and Yima, etc.
2.2
Status Quo
The Economic Corridor covers the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, where the Qinlin
Mountain and the Taihang Mountain extend eastward and meets the Huanghuaihai Plain. There are rich
energy and mineral resources in this area. It also enjoys ideal conditions for agricultural production. It
covers an area of 68,500 square kilometers, with a population of 40,003,600 (by the end of 2004).
Therefore, it is a densely populated area, whose population density has reached 584 capita/square
kilometers. The once ideal climate and hydrological conditions here gave birth to the Chinese
Civilization. The Yellow River within Henan enjoys rich cultural resources for tourism, such as
Longshan Culture, Yangshao Culture, Peiligang Culture, the Hometown of Emperor Huang, Yin Ruins
at Anyang, etc.. In modern times, the west part of the Yellow River bank was the traditional industrial
base of energy and raw materials, which had been developed for a long time and thus laid solid
economic foundation for its future development. The industrial total output value of this area in 2004
constitutes 58.1% of that of Henan. The population of this area only constitutes 41.2% that of total
province, but it constitutes 55.4% of the GDP of Henan. Its economic development level is relatively
higher than other areas in Henan. Average GDP per capita GDP has reached 12197, which is not only
higher than that of Henan, but also 1617 higher than that of the national average level.
￥
3
The Feasibility Analysis of Building the Economic Corridor Along the Yellow
River
3.1
The charm of the Yellow River Culture
The Yellow River Basin was suitable for growing and living since 3000—2000BC (The Yangshao
Culture at Sanmenxia and the Yin Ruins Civiliation at Anyang are good evidence). It is regarded as the
birthplace of Chinese Civilization. The Yellow River Basin is the origin of the Chinese nationality and is
called Mother River of China. The long history and profound culture will definitely promote the
economic development of this area.
3.2
The cities along the Yellow River have good economic foundation
The economic scale of the cities along the Yellow River is important to Henan. However, from the
perspective of the whole nation, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Statistics shows that the
population and the proportion of the employed of this area occupy about 40% of Henan. Its GDP,
929
industrial gross product and tertiary industry gross product constitutes over 50% of Henan, with a
contribution rate of above 55%. The amount and the industrial value-added of state-owned and
large-scale enterprises have surpassed 60% of the whole province. The industrial value-added of
state-owned and state-holding enterprises has also reached 63.6%. These figures point to the fact that the
cities along the Yellow River enjoy good economic foundation and have endless potential for future
development. In addition, the Economic Corridor enjoys advantages in investment and market. Its
investment in fixed assets, local financial revenue and household savings deposit has separately
constituted more than 60% of Henan. The salary amount and total retail amount of commodities have
separately surpassed half of those of Henan. What we have to point out is that the total retail amount of
commodities of this area has reached 57.1%. All of these create opportunities for investment and
demands.
3.3 The economic allocation features along the Yellow River Banks are good for the construction
of the economic belt
The economic allocation features of the Economic Corridor are: 1 the area where the level of
economy is relatively high is located to the west of the Jing-Guang Railroad, along the Yellow River. On
the south bank of the Yellow River is a narrow belt extending from Lingbao to Zhengzhou through
Luoyang, and on the north bank is a belt extending from Jiyuan to Linzhou, located at the south side of
Taihang Mountain, passing through Jiaozuo, Xinxiang, Hebi and Anyang. Due to its rapid economic
development of this area, we call this area as the industrial bulging economic region. 2 The two belts
meet at the middle and the lower reaches of the Yellow River and form an economic concentration area.
However, except for some prefecture-level cities, the economic level of other areas is relatively low.
Their distribution of GDP per capita and the distribution of industrial valve-added per capita are similar,
which are closely related. 3 Economic backward areas are areas where the value-added of agriculture,
forestry, livestock breeding and fishing is relatively high. There are two areas of this kind which lie in
vast, contiguous stretches: one is the mountain and hilly area in the west of Henan (the counties on the
south bank of the Yellow River but not on the Jiang-Guang Line), and the other is the county area to the
east of the Jiang-Guang Line. The agricultural types of these two areas are not the same— the
mountanious and hilly agricultural area and the plain agricultural area respectively. In addition, the
transportation infrastructure of the two industrial belts along the Yellow River is well equipped: the two
belts are located at the railway main artery which consists of Longhai Line, Jiaoliu Line, Jiang-Guang
Line. The highway net in these two belts is densely built up. All of these make contributions to the
formation of the current economic pattern.
（）
（）
（）
3.4 The industrial group along the Yellow River has been in shape and lays solid foundation for
its future expansion
After decades of development, some industrial bases have been formed, with eight prefecture-level
cities at the center and many counties and districts around them. The industrial bases include the bases
of energy, chemical engineering, metallurgy industry at Sanmenxia, the bases of advanced manufacture
coal-electrolytic aluminum integration, chemical engineering and rare metals as Silicon,Titanium at
Luoyang, the bases of metallurgy industry, building material, and chemical engineering at Jiyuan, the
bases of commerce and trade, physical distribution, food, valves, refractory materials at Zhengzhou, the
bases of chemical fiber fabrics, electronic and electrical appliances, light industry, machine manufacture
and pharmaceutical and chemical industry at Xinxiang, the base of petrol-chemical industry at Puyang.
These bases lay solid foundation for the construction of industrial groups along the Yellow River.
3.5
The infrastructure of the cities along the Yellow River is desirable
The energy system of electricity, gas and heat, the water supplying system, the transportation
system, the information system and the environmental protection system are so perfect that they can
meet the need of industrial groups.
3.6 The major scenic spots and cultural sceneries
The major scenic spots and cultural sceneries in Henan are located along the Yellow River, and it is
930
convenient for us to design tourist lines and develop tourist industry. The tourist resources in Henan are
mainly scattered along the Yellow River, such as Longshan Culture, Yangshao Culture, Peiligang
Culture, the Hometown of Emeperor Huang and Yin Ruins. Besides, the Longmen Grottoes, White
Horse Temple and Xiaolangdi at Luoyang, the Shaolin Temple at Zhengzhou, the Yuntai Mountain at
Jiaozuo, and the Eight Li Trench at Xinxiang are famous at home and even abroad. It is desirable to
integrate them into scale economy.
3.7 The universities and scientific research institutes
The universities and scientific research institutes along the Yellow River provide the construction
of economic corridor with technology and personnel. Higher education institutes like PLA Foreign
Language University, Zhengzhou University, Henan University, Henan University of Science and
Technology and Henan Normal University are all located along the Yellow River. In addition, 118 of the
national and provincial scientific research institutes in Henan are located in this area.
4. The General Concept of Building the Central Plains’ Economic Corridor Along
the Yellow River
Our general concept to construct ecotype Economic corridor along the Yellow River
summarized as “One Region”, “One Integration”, “One Tourism” and “Two Belts”.
can be
4.1 One Region
“One Region” to construct shelter forests and wetland biological protection areas along the Yellow
River. We should take advantage of the Sanmenxia Reservoir, Xiaolangdi Hydro Project and the
Xixiayuan Water Transfer Project to strengthen the comprehensive management of the Yellow River
banks, to construct the ecological protection forest and fast-growing and high-yield plantation, to
develop ecological agriculture along the Yellow River banks, to protect and restore the wetland so as to
turn the Yellow River into a sustainable ecological economic corridor.
4.2 One Integration
“One Integration” to promote the urban integration of Zhengzhou—Kaifeng. Kaifeng is an
ancient capital of seven dynasties. It was once the greatest and most splendid city in the world, which
enjoyed all the factors of a good city: business prosperity, cultural flourish, economic thrive and
convenient transportation. However, serious natural disasters and several historic eventual affairs drew it
down and deprived its core resources of economic and social development. Since Zhengzhou and
Kaifeng are only 67 kilometers away from each other and the terrain between them slopes gently, the
integration of these two cities will be win-win for each other.
：
：
4.3 One Tourism
“One Tourism” to integrate the tourism resources along the Yellow River. We have mentioned in
3.6 that most of the tourism resources in Henan are located along the Yellow River. However, since
these scenic spots and cultural sceneries are not famous and influential enough at home, they cannot
enjoy large-scaled benefit. We should bear in mind the concept of building Big Tourism, in other words,
to integrate the tourist resources and make the integrated tourism area a name card of Henan. Only in
this way can we maximize the influence of Henan’s tourist industry and make it the pillar industry of the
Economic Corridor along the Yellow River.
4.4
Two Belts
“Two Belts” to cultivate the Zheng(zhou)-Luo(yang)-San(menxia) industrial belt and the
Ji(yuan)-Jiao(zuo)-Xin(xiang)-Pu(yang) industrial belt. To realize spacial integration of industrial
allocation, we have to strengthen the city group’s sectors, industries, enterprises and their special
intensity on the basis of each city’s function. Each city should have its own leading industry or pillar
：
931
industry. The sectors or industries that are not highly developed should be absorbed into the industrial
chain to form an integrated system where integration of supporting facilities and division of labors are
available. Gradually, each city will has its pillar industry which tops in the Economic Corridor, and the
first five pillar industries of the Economic Corridor will not overlap.
On the basis of the traditional industries along the Yellow River, we can build industrial groups of
coal-electrolytic aluminum integration, commerce and trade, food processing, advanced equipment
manufacture, energy and metallurgy industry on the south bank of the Yellow River, extending from
Zhengzhou to Luoyang, and from Luoyang to Sanmenxia. Specifically, we have to make Zhengzhou the
center of commerce and trade and physical distribution, Luoyang the base of equipment manufacture
and the base of raw materials, and Sanmenxia the principle base of energy and metallurgy industry. On
the north bank of the Yellow River, we can build industrial group of textile and other light industries,
spare parts for cars, chemical engineering of coal, petrochemical processing along
Jiyuang-Jiaozuo-Xinxiang-Puyang. Specifically, we can turn Jiyuang and Jiaozuo into the base of
energy chemical engineering and chemical engineering of coal in China, to turn Xinxiang into the base
of textile and other light industries and the base of spare parts for cars, and to turn Puyang into the base
of petrochemical processing.
5. Conclusion
The Rise of Central Plains is a strategic plan of the provincial government of Henan and an important
part of the Rise of Central China proposed by the Chinese government. The author opens a new
road—that is to develop an economic corridor along the Yellow River , and studies the ways to
construct ecotype Economic corridor along the Yellow River from “One Region”, “One
Integration”, “One Tourism” and “Two Belts”.
References
[1]The 2005 Statistic Yearbook of Henan Province. 2006. Beijing: China Statistics Press. (in Chinese)
[2]The 2005 Statistic Yearbook of China. 2006. Beijing: China Statistics Press. (in Chinese)
[3]Chen Naidao. 1999. Focusing on Chinese Economy[M]. Beijing: Reform Press. (in Chinese)
[4]Cheng Dening. 2005. Urbanization and Economic Development. Beijing: Science Press. (in Chinese)
[5]Zhang Dawei. 2005. A Report on the development of Cities in Henan Province. Henan: Henan People’s Press. (in
Chinese)
[6]Vries J.D, Priemus H. 2003. Mega---corridors in North—west Europe: Issues for Transnational Spatial
Governance. Journal of Transport Geography. Vol. 11
[7] Aljard S. , Black W. 1995,Modeling sandy Arabia—Bahrain Corridor Mode Choice, Journal of Transport
Geography , Vol . 3
The author can be contacted from e-mail : [email protected]
932