With the release of the 2021 economic performance report cards in various regions, the top ten GDP rankings of ordinary prefecture-level cities in the central region have been released, namely Luoyang (544.71 billion yuan), Xiangyang (530.943 billion yuan), Yichang (502.269 billion yuan), Yueyang (440.298 billion yuan) 100 million yuan), Nanyang (434.222 billion yuan), Wuhu (430.263 billion yuan), Changde (405.41 billion yuan), Hengyang (384.031 billion yuan), Xuchang (365.54 billion yuan), Zhoukou (349.623 billion yuan).

　　A reporter from China Business News noticed that under the national strategy of "Rise of Central China", in addition to implementing the "Strengthening Provincial Capital Strategy", the central provinces are also cultivating new economic development momentum.

For example, Hubei will focus on coordinated regional development at the first meeting of the Spring Festival this year, proposing not only to make Wuhan bigger and stronger, but also to build Xiangyang and Yichang into leading non-provincial cities in the central and western regions, driving the two wings of the "North-South array" to fly together; Henan also proposed To improve the functional status of Luoyang as a sub-center city, Luoyang should be included in the expanded Zhengzhou metropolitan area, and it will develop more harmoniously with Zhengzhou.

　　Experts pointed out that the population of tens of millions in the central provinces depends only on one provincial capital city to support economic development, which will not only cause the provincial capital city to encounter the ceiling of population, housing prices, social services, and environmental pollution, but also other areas in the province will not get balanced development.

Only by building the sub-center of regional economic growth and the urban belt outside the sub-center can we stimulate the maximum potential of the province's factor resources and realize the sustainable and balanced development of the province's economy.

　　The top ten rankings may change in the future

　　A reporter from China Business News found that among the top ten central prefecture-level cities in 2021, Henan will occupy at most 4 seats, namely Luoyang, Nanyang, Xuchang and Zhoukou; Hunan will occupy the second place with 3 seats, namely Yueyang, Changde and Hengyang; Hubei accounted for 2 seats and ranked third, respectively, Xiangyang and Yichang; Jiangxi and Shanxi did not have a prefecture-level city to break into the top ten.

There are 3 central prefecture-level cities whose total GDP will exceed 500 billion yuan in 2021, namely Luoyang, Xiangyang and Yichang.

　　In terms of increments, the top three are Yichang (76.127 billion yuan), Xiangyang (70.746 billion yuan) and Wuhu (54.961 billion yuan). The rapid development of these three cities may induce new changes in the top ten rankings.

　　Yichang is the second largest city along the river in Hubei after Wuhan. The chemical industry has always been a pillar industry in Yichang. However, in the past, problems such as scattered layout and safety and environmental protection were more prominent.

　　After the "Regulations" for the protection of the Yangtze River, Yichang's chemical industry entered a period of in-depth transformation and upgrading, and the economic growth rate declined for a while.

After three years of hard work, Yichang has successfully completed the task of "renovating and relocating to green" for chemical enterprises along the Yangtze River. The chemical industry has completely abandoned the old road dominated by factor input, and the proportion of fine chemicals in the chemical industry has increased from 18.6% before the renovation to 36% or more, economic development has returned to the fast lane.

In 2021, Yichang's nominal GDP growth rate will be as high as 17.86%, ranking first among the top ten prefecture-level cities in central China.

　　Xiangyang, another Hubei province ranked among the top ten prefecture-level cities in central China, is the central city in the Han River basin and a well-known automobile city in the country.

Although Xiangyang also maintained rapid growth, Yichang's nominal GDP growth rate was still more than two percentage points higher than that of Xiangyang.

As the distance between Yichang and Xiangyang is getting closer, the two provincial sub-center cities of Hubei will stage a "dragon-tiger fight".

　　Wuhu, which ranks third in increments, is not only the second largest economic city in Anhui after Hefei, but also the port city along the Yangtze River with the largest throughput in the central region, with a developed shipping and logistics industry.

In recent years, Wuhu is backed by the Yangtze River Delta, and modern manufacturing and high-tech industries have also flourished.

On the other hand, Nanyang and Yueyang, which are the top two, still rely on traditional industries for economic development, lacking the support of advantageous industries, and the growth of new kinetic energy is weak.

It can be foreseen that the possibility of Wuhu surpassing these two cities will become more and more in the next one or two years.

　　In addition, the competition for the first city of non-provincial prefecture-level cities in central China is very stalemate.

Xiangyang is close to Luoyang, and the total GDP difference between the two cities is only 13.7 billion yuan; in terms of nominal growth rate, Xiangyang has reached 15.37%, and Luoyang is only 6.21%.

If Luoyang, the old industrial base, is to successfully defend its position, it is urgent to strengthen its innovation capability and further strengthen the adjustment of its industrial structure.

　　New Opportunities for Sub-Central Cities

　　In the new year, the central provinces have significantly increased their attention to non-provincial capital cities.

First, Henan announced that Luoyang would be included in the "Zhengzhou Metropolitan Circle 1+8", and clearly stated that it would support Luoyang in building a trillion-level central city agglomeration as a sub-center city and an international consumption center city; improve the development of Zhengluo's new self-created area, and accelerate the innovation of national agricultural machinery and equipment The construction of the center and the implementation of projects such as Luozhou High-end Bearing Industrial Park will bring many policy dividends to Luoyang in the future to "build a strong sub-center, form a growth pole, and revive new glory".

　　Long Zhigang, director of the Henan Transportation Strategy Development Research Institute, believes that Zhengzhou and Luoyang are about 100 kilometers apart, and two metropolitan areas, Zhengzhou and Luoyang, are planned. The Zhengzhou metropolitan area will be expanded, and it will be more convenient to include Luoyang City in the Zhengzhou metropolitan area. Coordinate the construction of projects in the area.

For example, Chengdu and Chongqing are about 260 kilometers apart. On the basis of the existing Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration, the Chengdu-Chongqing twin-city economic circle has been built. At the same time, the Chengdu metropolitan area and the Chongqing metropolitan area are also planned. focus.

　　Immediately after the "First Meeting" of Hubei New Year, it also focused on the coordinated development of the region.

In addition to emphasizing the province's unswerving support for Wuhan to become bigger and stronger, Ying Yong, secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, also emphasized: promoting Xiangyang to build a non-provincial leading city in the central and western regions and a central city in the Han River Basin, and Yichang to build a non-provincial leading city in the central and western regions and a leading city in the central and western regions. A regional central city in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, it will promote the integrated development of the two flank city clusters of "Xiang Shi Sui Shen" and "Yijing Jing'en", strive to become an important growth pole of non-provincial capital city clusters in the country, and build a "north-south column" that supports the high-quality development of the province. array".

　　"In the past 20 years, I have been calling for Hubei to build 'three circles and three belts', through the three urban circles of Wuhan, Yichang and Xiangyang and the three belts of the Yangtze River, Hanjiang and Qingjiang, to drive the development of Hubei's entire region." Pangu Think Tank Academic Member, Zhongnan Finance and Economics Ye Qing, a professor at the University of Political Science and Law, told the First Financial Reporter that in recent years, the provincial capitals in the central and western regions have been too high. The gap between Wuhan and Xiangyang and Yichang, and the gap between Chengdu and Mianyang can be seen.

On the other hand, the eastern coastal area is basically a "dual-center" development model. For example, Shenzhen, the non-capital city of Guangdong, has surpassed Guangzhou. Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, has lost to Suzhou, the inland-level city of the province. Qingdao in Shandong has surpassed Jinan, and Dalian in Liaoning has surpassed Shenyang.

　　Ye Qing believes that in order to achieve balanced and coordinated development of the whole region in the central and western regions, it cannot rely on only one point for support, otherwise the development vitality and stamina will be lacking.

　　Yao Shujie, secretary general of the Research Center for Urbanization and Regional Innovation Development and a professor at Chongqing University, said in an interview with a reporter from China Business News that only by building sub-centers of regional economic growth and urban belts outside the sub-centers in the central and western regions can the province's factors be stimulated. The maximum potential of resources to achieve sustainable and balanced development of the province's economy.

　　Yao Shujie suggested that to promote the development of provincial urban circles, it is necessary to enhance the circulation and smoothness between regions, which should not only completely break the geographical and traffic barriers between regions, but also promote the "soft smoothness" of institutional mechanisms, overall policies and concepts to promote The labor force, population, capital, and technology will develop in the same city in the urban circle, expand the choice and flexibility of the implementation of production factors, create a new pattern of high-efficiency three-dimensional circulation of production factors, and accelerate the formation of "strong cores, strong circles, belt clusters, and xingxian counties." "The pattern of multi-pole support and multi-point force.

　　Author: Zhou Fang