[South and North economies are very good]

　　Recently, voices such as the so-called "Great Southern Era", "The South is overwhelming the North", and "The South is strong and the North is weak" have appeared online, even claiming that "The North is an economic black hole" and "The North-South gap has reached its most severe moment."

How should we treat the issue of the North-South economic gap objectively?

In this regard, a reporter from Economic Daily-China Economic Net interviewed Lian Ping, chief economist and dean of the research institute of Zhixin Investment.

Lian Ping believes that with the development of the market economy, it is a common phenomenon that the level and structure of economic development in different regions are differentiated.

The economies of various regions in northern China have been developing in recent years. Although they are not as impressive as the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions in the south, they also have their own development characteristics and economic growth advantages.

The danger of this phenomenon should not be exaggerated, and the results achieved in the economic development of the northern region should not be overstated.

The correct attitude is to take a rational view of the development of differentiation, increase the intensity of market-oriented reforms in the northern region, promote the coordinated development of the regional economy, cultivate the economic advantages of the northern region, and improve the regional economic structure of the country.

Economic Daily-China Economic Net: Have you noticed the recent voices circulating on the Internet that "the South is overwhelming the North" and "the South is strong and the North is weak"?

Lian Ping: It

should be admitted that the economic gap between China's north and the south does exist, but the statements such as "the South completely crushes the north", "the north is an economic black hole", and "the gap between the north and the south has reached its most severe moment" are actually exaggerated.

In recent years, the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations have risen rapidly and have become two important engines for the economic development of the South.

But at the same time, it should be noted that the southern region also includes economically backward areas such as Guizhou and Yunnan, and the development differences between cities in the southern region are relatively large.

In fact, in recent years, the economy of various regions in northern China has been developing. Although not as impressive as the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions in the south, they also have their own development characteristics and economic growth advantages. For example, the northern region has many plains. Industry and agriculture are developed. With the continuous advancement of the "New Northeast Revitalization Strategy", the extensive traditional industries in the past are gradually transforming and upgrading.

　　With the development of the market economy, it is a common phenomenon that the level and structure of economic development in different regions are differentiated.

The development of the United States and Japan after World War II also showed such a trend.

We should not exaggerate the danger of this phenomenon and obliterate the achievements of economic development in the northern region.

The correct attitude is to look at the development of differentiation rationally, increase the intensity of market reforms in the northern region, promote the coordinated development of regional economies, cultivate the economic advantages of the northern region, and improve the regional economic structure of the country.

Economic Daily-China Economic Net reporter: What standard should be used to measure the economic gap between North and South?

Lian Ping:

After long-term efforts, especially the rapid development since reform and opening up, China's economy has shifted from a stage of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development.

The GDP indicator, which represents the total economic volume, can no longer meet the needs of a comprehensive and objective evaluation of economic development.

The high-quality development indicator system should include structural indicators, coordination indicators, quality and efficiency indicators, innovation development indicators, green development indicators, etc., to reflect the comprehensive development of industries and regions.

As for the economic gap between North and South, observations should be made with the concept and standards of high-quality development.

　　The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stated that my country's economy has shifted from a stage of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development.

In February 2018, Ning Jizhe, Director of the National Bureau of Statistics, published an article "Implementing the New Development Concept and Promoting High-Quality Development" in "Qiushi". In the article, he mentioned that the new development concept is thoroughly implemented to guide the transition to high-quality development. direction.

　　Therefore, it is necessary to establish a high-quality evaluation index system from the aspects of innovation-driven, structural optimization, intensive and efficient, green and low-carbon, and coordinated development. For example, use the proportion of R&D and technology investment in revenue, and the number of patented inventions to build innovation-driven development evaluation indicators , Use the proportion of knowledge-intensive industries to measure structural optimization development evaluation indicators, use energy consumption and carbon emissions per unit of GDP to construct green and low-carbon development evaluation indicators, and so on.

Economic Daily-China Economic Net reporter: You mentioned that we should rationally treat the development of economic differentiation between North and South. What are the main reasons for this difference?

Lian Ping:

The main reasons for the formation of the North-South economic gap are as follows:

　　First of all, from the perspective of industrial structure, the North is dominated by resources, energy and heavy industry, while the South is dominated by processing and manufacturing.

my country is striving to transform from a big manufacturing country to a strong manufacturing country, bringing more development opportunities to the southern region.

　　Secondly, from the perspective of geographical factors, coastal areas are often more developed than inland areas, which is a common phenomenon in regional economic development around the world.

Since the beginning of the great maritime era, maritime transport, as the most important carrier of global trade, has become an indispensable economic element for a powerful country due to its large volume, low cost, and easy access to waterways.

In our country, the southern Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and other regions have unique advantages in shipping development.

In the north, due to the freezing of the ports in winter and the inability to form a good cooperation with the inland waterway, the development of shipping is naturally not as good as that in the south.

　　Finally, from the perspective of the process of reform and opening up, since China’s entry into the WTO, China has gradually integrated into economic globalization, the southern region has been lightly loaded, light industry and processing and manufacturing have developed rapidly, and the economic center of gravity has gradually shifted to the south, which has brought China’s economic development pattern. Great influence, making the economic importance of northern cities relatively declined.

The fact that the North is inferior to the South in terms of total economic development is an objective reality in China's globalization process.

Economic Daily-China Economic Net: Generally speaking, what comparative advantages does the northern region have?

Lian Ping:

From the perspective of industrial characteristics, the northern region still has obvious advantages in industries, such as heavy industry, defense technology industry, food industry, and so on.

Specifically:

　　In terms of heavy industry, the Northeast has abundant mineral resources, rich in coal, iron, and petroleum.

Among them, the three northeastern provinces were the first heavy industry bases built after the founding of New China, with a large number of major industrial projects in steel, energy, heavy machinery, automobiles, shipbuilding, aircraft, and military industries, laying the initial foundation for China's industrialization.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Northeast region has contributed many national firsts in the manufacture of large-scale machinery and equipment such as CNC machine tools, large ships, marine engineering, and railway locomotives, gradually breaking the overseas monopoly.

In addition, Shandong's heavy industry has developed rapidly, with its total industrial output value and industrial added value ranking the forefront of China's provinces, especially large-scale enterprises. Key enterprises include Qilu Petrochemical, Shandong Electric Power, Shandong Iron and Steel, Shandong Haihua, Shengli Oilfield, and so on.

In recent years, the pace of heavy industry's transformation and upgrading to high-end and intelligentization has accelerated significantly, which has played an important role in the development of downstream industries serving China's manufacturing.

　　In terms of national defense and technology industries, Shaanxi Province in the northern region is an important base for this industry.

As a transportation hub connecting east, west, south and north, Shaanxi has an advantageous geographical location, gathering many aviation and aerospace scientific research units.

Shaanxi Province has China's largest aircraft manufacturing base and is also an important research and production base for my country's military industry, underwater weapons and nuclear fuel.

Shaanxi Province has overcome many key technologies in the fields of manned spaceflight and lunar exploration projects, and successfully broke foreign monopolies.

In addition, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is playing the leading role of the national science and technology innovation center.

Among them, Beijing is the national political center and cultural center, Tianjin is the country's advanced manufacturing research and development base, and Hebei is the national industrial transformation and upgrading experimental zone.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region also has a large number of universities and research institutes, which are an important force for the country to realize technological innovation.

　　In terms of food industry, the Northeast Plain, Huanghuaihai Plain, and Weihe Plain in the north are the main production areas of dryland agriculture in my country.

At present, the grain industry in China has formed a production and marketing pattern of "transporting grain from the north to the south".

From 2000 to 2020, the proportion of grain output in 15 northern provinces in the country's total output rapidly rose from 45.65% to 59.22%.

Among the top 10 provinces in grain production in 2020, the north occupies 6 seats, and Heilongjiang, Henan, and Shandong rank in the top three. The total grain output of the three provinces accounts for nearly 30% of the national grain output.

Among them, Heilongjiang's grain output has ranked first in the country for 9 consecutive years, and the output of corn and rice has ranked first in the country; Henan's wheat output has ranked first in the country for many years.

As the main production area of ​​agricultural products, the importance of the northern region is self-evident.

　　In summary, it can be seen that in the process of economic development and change, the northern region has formed unique and advantageous industries, and its economic status cannot be ignored.

Therefore, the current development gap between North and South should not be overemphasized, but should focus on exploring the relationship between regional advantages and industrial structure, as well as how to achieve a country's optimal allocation of resources, continuously expand advantageous industries, and optimize economic structure.

(Economic Daily-China Economic Net reporter Ma Changyan)