Why are these 4 county-level cities able to rank among the "big cities", and what does the promotion mean?

　　The latest city scale classification in China is "released", and four county-level cities such as Kunshan in Jiangsu, Yiwu in Zhejiang, Cixi in Zhejiang and Jinjiang in Fujian are among the ranks of "big cities".

　　The recently published "2020 China Census by Counties" ("County Data") compiled by the Office of the State Council Leading Group for the Seventh National Census shows that there are currently 105 large cities in my country, including 7 megacities and 14 megacities. Cities, 14 large cities of type I and 70 large cities of type II, and the aforementioned 4 county-level cities are listed as large cities of type II.

　　Population size is an important consideration for the selection of the above cities.

Qipu data shows that the resident population of Kunshan, Jiangsu reached 2,092,500, and the urban population reached 1,414,300; the permanent population of Yiwu, Zhejiang reached 1,859,400, and the urban population reached 1,184,200; the permanent population of Cixi, Zhejiang reached 1,829,500, and the urban population reached 1,061,900. 10,000 people; the resident population of Jinjiang, Fujian reached 2,061,600, and the urban population reached 1,012,500.

　　According to the "Notice on Adjusting the Criteria for Urban Size Division" issued by the State Council in 2014, the urban size division criteria take the urban resident population as the statistical caliber, and divide cities into five categories and seven grades.

Among them, cities with a permanent population of more than 10 million are megacities; those with more than 5 million but less than 10 million are megacities; those with more than 3 million but less than 5 million are Type I cities, and those with more than 1 million but less than 3 million are Type II cities , the two are also called big cities.

In addition, urban areas with a permanent population of more than 500,000 and less than 1 million are medium-sized cities, and those with a population of less than 500,000 are small cities.

　　Why did the population gather in these four county-level cities?

Strong economic strength, characteristic industries, and location advantages are some of the commonalities of these four county-level cities.

What do the 4 county-level "big cities" have in common?

　　"The location advantage is an important reason for the rapid economic and population development of these four cities. These cities have developed industrial and commercial economies, have convenient transportation links with surrounding urban areas, and can take advantage of the development of metropolitan circles, central cities in urban agglomerations and neighboring cities. The economic development opportunities brought by it all have a positive effect on the rapid development of the city and the absorption of the population." Ren Yuan, a professor at the Population Research Institute of Fudan University, pointed out.

　　The four county-level cities are all located in the eastern coastal area. In Ren Yuan's view, this location advantage provides them with an opportunity to become a "big city", "These cities are all densely populated areas in the east, where industrialization and commercial economy are very important. Some developed areas are also closely linked with central cities, forming fast-growing cities in metropolitan circles and urban agglomeration city networks.”

　　The number of large cities in the eastern coastal areas is relatively large. According to the "County-by-County Data",

In addition, Ren Yuan believes that if it is close to the central city or has convenient transportation, some functions of the central city can be used to develop the economy, thereby promoting population agglomeration.

　　Zhong Huiyong, associate professor of the School of Finance of Shanghai University of International Business and Economics and deputy director of the Institute of Financial Development, believes that the four county-level cities are all close to megacities, megacities or are located in metropolitan circles and urban agglomerations, which also shows an important part of future urban evolution. For example, Kunshan is close to Shanghai, which can be regarded as being located in the Shanghai metropolitan area, enjoying the overflow value of Shanghai.

　　In addition to the population, the four counties and cities performed well in economic data.

　　The data shows that 4 county-level cities have entered my country's top ten counties in terms of GDP in 2021. Kunshan ranks first with 474.806 billion yuan, and Kunshan has ranked first in the country's top 100 counties for 18 consecutive years.

Cixi ranks first among Zhejiang counties and cities with 237.917 billion yuan. As early as 2013, Cixi became the first 100 billion county in Zhejiang, and it jumped to 200 billion in 2020.

Yiwu's GDP in 2021 will reach 173.016 billion yuan, and the growth rate of 11.6% is the fastest among the top ten counties.

Jinjiang's GDP in 2021 will approach 300 billion yuan, reaching 298.641 billion yuan, a growth rate of 10.5%.

　　In addition, characteristic industries are also the "labels" of these four cities.

For example, the electronic information industry is the backbone of Kunshan. The official website of the Kunshan Municipal Government shows that by the end of 2021, Kunshan will have a 100 billion IT (communication equipment, computer and other electronic equipment) industrial cluster.

The development of small commodity trade in Yiwu, "the capital of small commodities in the world", can even give a glimpse of the trend of some important events by analyzing the "Yiwu Index" formed by its commodity transactions.

Cixi is an important manufacturing town in Zhejiang. According to Zhejiang News Client, 73 enterprises in Cixi have ranked first in the domestic market share of products in sub-sectors, and 51 enterprises have realized the substitution of imports of key core technology products.

Shoes, clothing and textiles are the pillar industries of Jinjiang. At present, Jinjiang has gradually formed two hundred billion industrial clusters of footwear and textile industries.

What it means to be a "big city"

　　The scale of cities is an important basis for the hierarchical management of Chinese cities.

　　Zhong Huiyong believes that after entering the "big city" sequence, on the one hand, from the perspective of the increase in the number of urban populations, "the population increases, the big cities become more agglomerated, there will be more employment opportunities in the cities, and the average wage income in the cities may also increase. These are the benefits brought about by the increase in the population of the city itself." On the other hand, after entering a larger sequence of cities, some development plans may also face corresponding adjustments.

　　"After becoming a big city, it will have a corresponding impact on the changes in urban space. Urban planning is largely based on urban economic development, especially changes in urban population." Ren Yuan said that the growth of urban population and changes in population scale and level, It will bring pressure on urban management and services, and also put forward new demands on urban planning and public services, such as the ability of transportation and commuting, education and public facilities.

Provincial and prefectural-level governments need to coordinate their relationship with these county-level city governments, "so that these 'grown up' cities have greater resource allocation and urban management capabilities."

What are the inspirations for the development of other county-level cities?

　　Ren Yuan said that county-level cities, including county-level Chengguan towns, constitute the most basic carrier of China's urbanization development. "Strengthening the development of county-level urbanization is crucial to China's urbanization. However, the performance of county-level urbanization in different regions is very important. For example, the development of these four county-level cities is being integrated into the regional urbanization development pattern of metropolitan circles and urban agglomerations. However, the urbanization of some counties in my country may still have the reduction of county population and urbanization. To shrink, it is necessary to strengthen the development and functional construction of county-level cities according to local characteristics.”

　　According to the 2021 Civil Affairs Development Statistical Bulletin, by the end of 2021, there will be 2,843 county-level administrative divisions in the country, including 394 county-level cities.

　　Ren Yuan pointed out that from the perspective of changes in the urban system, on the one hand, although China's population growth rate is slowing down, there will be negative growth in the future.

However, the population growth rate of megacities and megacities is faster than that of cities, and the population agglomeration of megacities and megacities in the urban system is increasing. This trend has not changed at present.

The contribution of megacities and megacities to my country's urbanization development will continue to increase, and megacities will also drive regional development by driving the development of metropolitan areas and urban agglomerations.

On the other hand, smaller cities are facing development differentiation. Some cities have a stable population, some even shrink, and others will continue to grow. The overall development trend is diversified.

　　The four county-level cities have their own development models.

For example, the development of industry is the core of the "Jinjiang experience". In the past 20 years, the GDP of Jinjiang has increased from 27.7 billion yuan to 298.6 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 11.6%, and the total fiscal revenue has increased from 2 billion yuan to 25.7 billion yuan. The average growth rate was 14.4%, achieving a historical leap from a poor county to a "top ten counties (cities) in the country".

　　The official website of Yiwu Municipal Government introduces the distinctive feature of the "Yiwu Model", starting from "feather for sugar", using the market's first-mover advantage and agglomeration function to develop a commerce and trade industry based on the circulation of small commodities, and constantly accumulate capital and expand the scale of operation to promote Commercial capital expands into manufacturing and urban infrastructure construction, realizing the coordinated development of the market, industry and cities, and promoting the process of regional economic industrialization, urbanization, and internationalization.

　　"Each city needs to find its own positioning." Zhong Huiyong said, "It is necessary to know what the comparative advantage of the local industry is. After finding the comparative advantage, each city needs to consider the development according to local conditions." In addition, for coastal areas For county-level cities, it is necessary to establish more interconnections with surrounding megacities and megacities.

　　It is worth noting that the urban population size is an important indicator of the city's energy level. Some places try to increase the urban population size by removing counties and dividing cities into districts.

In this regard, Zhong Huiyong believes that the economic laws must be followed when the population is merged, and the merger cannot be carried out simply to make the city bigger. "The most important thing is that after the merger of the city, the local development opportunities and development potential are better than before the merger. ."

　　"We must adapt measures to local conditions. In the past, some cities built a lot of buildings in order to expand the so-called city scale and expand the area of ​​the municipal area, but in the end, no one actually came in, and some 'empty cities' appeared, which needs to be avoided." Zhong Huiyong said.