China News Service, Beijing, September 25 (Liu Wenwen) Competitiveness Think Tank, China Economic Herald, Beijing Zhongxin Urban Planning and Design Research Institute and other institutions have recently jointly released the "County Development Monitoring Report 2021 in Western China" (referred to as the "Report") .

The report unveiled the list of the “Top 100 Counties and Cities in Western China in 2021” and also showed that from 2000 to 2020, the comprehensive contribution rate of counties to the economic growth of the western region reached 61.0%.

　　The report shows that from 2000 to 2020, 20 years before the implementation of the Western Development Strategy, the comprehensive contribution rate of counties to the economic growth of the western region reached 61.0%.

On the one hand, the county's own economic and social development is rapid, and the county's GDP has increased from 0.94 trillion yuan to 9.47 trillion yuan, which is close to half of the total economic output of the western region, reaching 46.2%.

On the other hand, counties have injected new vitality into urban economic development. From the beginning of 2000 to the beginning of 2020, 95 economically strong counties in the western region have been adjusted to municipal districts and integrated into the urban economy. The county's contribution to the urban economy has reached 3.04 trillion yuan. At the same time, counties have also sent a large number of people to cities. The permanent population of counties in the western region has decreased from 283 million in 2000 to 223 million in 2020, a decrease of 21.2%, and the proportion of the total population in the western region has dropped from 79.6% to 58.2%.

　　The monitoring and evaluation objects of county development in western China are all county units in the 12 western provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). The evaluation is made from the four aspects of economic scale, people’s livelihood, economic vitality, and development quality. The four sub-indexes synthesize competitiveness Index, the top 100 in the competitiveness index are the top 100 counties and cities in western China.

　　According to the report, there are 6 “new members” in the list of the top 100 counties and cities in western China in 2021, namely Horgos City in Xinjiang, Jianshui County, Xinping County in Yunnan, Bole City in Xinjiang, Ulanhot City in Inner Mongolia, and Lingshan County in Guangxi.

In 2021, the average permanent population of the top 100 counties and cities in western China is 556,300; the average regional GDP is 35.647 billion yuan, an average increase of 3.3%; the average public budget revenue is 2.275 billion yuan, an average increase of 3.5%; the average industrial enterprise above designated size The total output value of industrial enterprises above designated size was about 38 billion yuan on average; fixed asset investment increased by 11.6% on average; the total retail sales of consumer goods averaged 11.022 billion yuan, down 2.6% on average; and the average per capita disposable income of urban residents was 38,680 yuan. The average growth rate was 4.3%; the average per capita disposable income of rural residents was 18,380 yuan, an average increase of 8.3%; the average savings deposits per capita of urban and rural residents was 54,200 yuan; the average air quality rate was 90.6%; the average green coverage rate in built-up areas was 40.4% .

　　The report believes that it is necessary to make precise efforts and take multiple measures to accelerate the cultivation of new driving forces for the development of western counties.

In 2021, the comprehensive competitiveness of the top 100 counties and cities in western China will continue to increase, with the average competitiveness index reaching 77.19, an increase of 1.69 over last year. However, the performance of the sub-indexes varies greatly, such as the economic scale index, the people’s living index, the economic vitality index, and the development quality index. The average values ​​were 1.15, 2.93, -1.33, 3.71 higher than last year.

Data shows that the quality of development of the top 100 counties and cities in western China continues to improve and people’s lives continue to improve. However, due to multiple factors such as the epidemic, the vitality of development is still insufficient.

According to statistics, among the top 100 counties and cities in western China in 2021, there are 12 counties with negative growth in regional GDP (comparable prices), and 17 counties with negative growth in general public budget revenue, a record number in recent years.

(over)