"The county is governed by the county, and the world is safe", and the county is the foundation of the country.
As the basic unit of state governance, General Secretary Xi Jinping once pointed out: "The county level is a link between the past and the next, with complete elements and complete functions. It plays a very important role in our party's governance and rejuvenation of the country, and plays an important role in national governance."
In a series of important documents of the country in recent years, the important role of the county seat has been mentioned many times. The county seat is located at the "end of the city" and is an important part of my country's urban system. Urban-rural relations are of great significance.
On July 12, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Notice on Printing and Distributing the Implementation Plan for New Urbanization during the 14th Five-Year Plan" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan").
The "Plan" puts forward several goals to be achieved in 2025, such as "important progress in urbanization construction with county towns as an important carrier" and other goals.
This means that the construction of county towns will promote the construction of county-level industrial supporting facilities, the improvement of public service levels, and the connection and complementation of township and county functions.
Earlier, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting Urbanization Construction with County Towns as an Important Carrier" (hereinafter referred to as "Opinions").
The "Opinions" clearly stated that county towns are an important part of my country's urban system, which is of great significance to building a unified domestic market and building a new type of industrial-agricultural urban-rural relationship, and provides a powerful tool for the implementation of the strategy of expanding domestic demand and the coordinated promotion of new urbanization and rural revitalization. support.
It can be said that the county seat is an important carrier for my country to implement new urbanization and achieve high-quality development, and it is also an important support for the economic development of the county.
Then, what are the values and current characteristics of county urbanization and county economy?
On this issue, Beijing Think Tank interviewed a number of experts and scholars.
Development cornerstone
County is the most stable administrative division unit in the history of our country, its establishment has profound historical origin, and plays an important role in the development history of Chinese civilization.
Chen Wensheng, a member of the Rural Revitalization Expert Committee of the Central Agricultural Office of the Communist Party of China and Director of the China Rural Revitalization Research Institute of Hunan Normal University, said in an interview with the Beijing Think Tank that counties have been the basic unit of national governance in all dynasties and dynasties in my country.
Because the county is the link between the top and the bottom, connecting the city and the township, it is the junction of the macro-economy and the micro-economy, and it is also the connection point of industrialization, urbanization, informatization and agricultural and rural modernization.
"Promoting the development of the county will accelerate the process of industrialization and urbanization, build it into a hub connecting cities and rural areas, build a virtuous circle of urban-rural relations, and promote the domestic economic cycle." Chen Wensheng said.
Huang Jianhong, a professor at the School of Politics and Public Administration of Soochow University and a researcher at the Center for Urbanization with Chinese Characteristics, also told the Beijing Think Tank that counties are the foundation of national governance, and their importance is self-evident.
Huang Jianhong said that in the process of developing county towns and promoting county urbanization, it is necessary to promote modernization through urbanization, and at the same time drive the modernization of agricultural and rural farmers, so as to realize the urbanization strategy and rural revitalization strategy at a higher level and rank. on a balance.
Huang Jianhong believes, "When we see county urbanization or county town urbanization, we cannot simply interpret it as an economic proposition. It must be a series of comprehensive issues such as economy, society, politics, culture, ecology and even space. The importance of the issue is that it can build an extremely important foundation for the long-term stability of the country."
It is precisely because counties play an important role in national governance that in the process of urbanization, county-level urbanization has been steadily advancing.
The Beijing think tank found that 1978 was a key node in the development history of my country's urbanization.
Before that, the urbanization rate in my country was only 17.9%, and the development was relatively slow.
After the reform and opening up, with a large number of rural laborers entering the cities, urbanization has advanced rapidly.
For example, the Third Plenary Session of the 15th CPC Central Committee put forward that "the development of small towns is a major strategy to drive rural economic and social development". The only way for my country's rural modernization.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that from 1978 to 2021, my country's urbanization rate has increased from 17.9% to 64.7%, and the urban resident population has increased from 172 million to 914 million.
According to Lu Dewen, a professor at the School of Sociology of Wuhan University, my country's county-level urbanization development can be roughly divided into three types: one is the local urbanization developed in some developed areas in the east on the basis of rural industrialization in the early stage of reform and opening up. It is the type with the highest level of urbanization; the other is the off-site urbanization formed after the 1990s, when a large number of rural people in the central and western regions went to the eastern coast to work, and it is also the largest type of population at present.
"In the past 10 years or so, a new type of urbanization has formed. Some migrant workers go out to work in big cities. After they have some savings, they buy houses in county towns or in towns and villages, and at the same time keep their fields in rural areas. But the main family reproduction has been transferred from the countryside to the city." In Lu Dewen's view, this is a further escalation of the second type of urbanization.
It is the emergence of new characteristics of urbanization development that has made urbanization construction with county towns as an important carrier gradually become the focus since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
In 2014, the "National New Urbanization Plan (2014-2020)" was issued, which proposed to accelerate the development of small and medium-sized cities.
The 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China in 2021 and the Outline of Vision for 2035 put forward tasks and measures to promote urbanization and county construction with county towns as an important carrier.
Chen Ming, an associate researcher at the Institute of Political Science of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with the Beijing Think Tank that the latest "Plan" and "Opinions" can be regarded as the continuation and overall promotion of the above-mentioned policies. The implementation of specific policies and measures for development means that the policy framework for the balanced development of large, medium and small cities is maturing.
"City End Country Head"
The county seat between urban and rural areas plays an important role as a regional central node, and plays an irreplaceable key role in the overall promotion of new urbanization and rural revitalization, especially in a country such as China where the number of rural residents is still huge.
In Chen Ming's view, first of all, the county seat is the first stop for the urbanization of many agricultural migrants.
Most of the newly urbanized population has begun to cross towns and towns, choosing county towns as the first stop, and then jumping to higher-level cities.
Second, counties are the key spatial carriers for the integrated development of urban and rural areas.
The county seat plays an important supporting role in the rural hinterland, and the economic interaction between the county seat and the village is the key interface of urban-rural integration.
Urban-rural integration has been talked about for many years, and now we have basically made it clear that this strategy must be implemented in the county first.
In addition, the county seat provides the main employment channel for the returning population.
Chen Ming found through research that some of the so-called returnees did not return to their hometowns to work in agriculture, but mostly returned to county towns or larger towns to work.
Xinjing Think Tank has learned that as to how to make good use of the linking role of "the end of the city and the head of the town", the National Development and Reform Commission has also publicly stated that promoting the construction of the county will not only help meet the increasing demand of farmers to find employment and settle in the county, but also help radiate and drive the countryside. The development and modernization of agriculture and rural areas are also conducive to strengthening the connection between the county and neighboring cities.
Chen Wensheng said that the county "upwards" undertakes the relief industry in large and medium cities.
Relying on the economic development of the county, an effective growth pole will be formed, the regional radiation force and spillover effect will be improved, and a rational industrial space layout of "county-town-village" division of labor will be formed.
Exploring the integration of resources and agglomeration factors at the county level will help to give play to the role of rural collective land and labor, form a competitive, distinctive and large-scale industrial cluster, and reshape the competitive advantage of China's labor-intensive industries.
"Downward" drives the common development of farmers' agriculture.
Provide farmers with stable employment opportunities, implement county-level commercial construction actions, and promote local employment and entrepreneurship for farmers; provide productive services for agricultural development, and promote the establishment of long-term and stable production and sales docking relationships; through the formation of "county-town-village" The division of labor is reasonable The layout of industrial space will drive the common development of agriculture and rural areas.
Huang Jianhong said that because the basic carrier carrying capacity, agglomeration capacity, development capacity and anti-risk capacity of the county seat in all aspects are generally much stronger than that of the village, the county seat has the role of driving radiation in these aspects, and also has the role of linking the previous and the next.
According to Chen Ming, there are still some areas in the eastern and central regions, showing a pattern of "strong county seat, large county area, and heavy agriculture", that is, the county seat of the main agricultural producing area mentioned in the "Opinions", which should be developed rationally.
At this time, the role of the county seat as an independent center is more obvious.
Build this part of the county town well, make up for the shortcomings and weaknesses in municipal facilities, public services, and environmental sanitation as soon as possible, and give full play to its role in endogenous agglomeration and extension of the industrial chain, which will promote the new urbanization and rural revitalization strategies. It lays an important spatial foundation for the urbanization of the transferred population and the promotion of the domestic economic cycle.
The reason why the county seat can play the role of "connecting the previous and the next" is that the county seat carries a huge population.
The relevant person in charge of the Planning Department of the National Development and Reform Commission once disclosed a set of data to the outside world. By the end of 2021, the permanent population of urban areas in my country will be 910 million.
Among them, the 1472 counties have a resident population of about 160 million people, and the urban resident population of 394 county-level cities is about 90 million. The urban population of the county and county-level cities accounts for nearly 30% of the national urban resident population. The number of city-level cities accounts for about 65% of the number of county-level administrative divisions.
As mentioned by the interviewed experts above, in the process of urbanization, it is common for farmers to buy houses in the county seat and gather in the county seat.
However, for the understanding of the function of the county seat as "connecting the previous and the next", Lv Dewen believes that the urbanization with the county seat as the carrier is the intersection of two strategies, the first is the strategy of new urbanization development, and the second is the rural revitalization strategy.
"If we want to focus on different aspects, from the perspective of our country's strategic positioning of the county seat, the most important function or value of the county seat is to serve the countryside. Therefore, the core of the county seat construction is not to build the county seat itself, but also It's not to benchmark the construction of a modern metropolis." Lu Dewen said.
The county economy is booming
The county seat occupies an important position in the development of the county economy. Ouyang Hui, a researcher at the Market and Price Research Institute of the China Academy of Macroeconomics, once told relevant media that the GDP of the county seat and county-level city area, which are the core of the county economy, accounts for nearly 1/1 of the national GDP. 4.
Ye Zhenyu, director and researcher of the Regional Economics Office of the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the recent introduction of relevant policies has an important role in promoting the current county towns to make up for their shortcomings, and it is also conducive to relying on the county towns to promote the high-quality development of urbanization .
All localities should adapt to local conditions and do what they can to promote the economic development of the county, optimize the business environment in the county, and encourage returning people to start businesses.
Behind the promotion of urbanization construction with county seat as the carrier is the vigorous development of the entire county economy.
Not long ago, CCID Consulting County Economic Research Center released the "2022 China's Top 100 County Economics Research", showing that in 2021, the national economic top 100 counties account for less than 2% of the country's land and 7% of the country's population, creating 9.94% of the country's economy. GDP.
From the distribution point of view, the eastern part of the top 100 counties accounted for 65 seats, the central region accounted for 22 seats, the western region accounted for 10 seats, and the northeast region accounted for 3 seats.
Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong accounted for 25, 18 and 13 seats respectively.
According to the list, it is not difficult to see that the county-level economic development of some provinces in the eastern region occupies an absolute advantage. In Ye Zhenyu's view, Kunshan, Jinjiang, Jiangyin and other places are the demonstration models of county-level economic development that have emerged since the reform and opening up.
What they have in common is firstly to seize the opportunity of reform and opening up and vigorously develop the private economy or export-oriented economy; secondly, the government and the market are closely integrated and interact positively to promote industrial transformation and upgrading in a timely manner; thirdly, they insist on unswervingly developing the real economy and vigorously develop the manufacturing industry The fourth is to take the road of high-quality urbanization and improve the urban environment; the fifth is to focus on the government's own capacity building and actively improve the business environment.
The Beijing Think Tank noticed that in recent years, the entry threshold for the top 100 counties has been continuously raised.
In 2021, the entry threshold for the top 100 counties in the country will increase from 57.5 billion yuan in the previous year to 67.6 billion yuan, and the increment will exceed 10 billion yuan.
The first-ranked Suzhou Kunshan had a GDP of 474.8 billion yuan last year, which has surpassed that of Guiyang and other provincial capitals.
"The level of urban-rural integration in Kunshan, Taicang, Zhangjiagang, Changshu, including Jiangyin and other counties and county-level cities is generally relatively high. Some county-level cities like Suzhou have been strongly radiated by Shanghai, and they are basically equivalent to Shanghai's Satellite city." Huang Jianhong explained.
Regarding the development of county economy in China, according to Lu Dewen's observation, it can be divided into three types according to the characteristics of regional economic development as a whole.
The first type is located around big cities, most typically some counties in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta.
These regions themselves have a high level of urbanization and industrialization, and their biggest advantage is to undertake industrial transfer from big cities, and at the same time to absorb the labor force of the whole country.
The second type is that the level of urbanization in the county is not necessarily high, but the level of economic development in the county is relatively high. For example, in some places in Jiaodong Peninsula, Shandong, the economy of the county is mainly developed through agriculture, industry and trade. Each county has its own characteristic industries. Industrial development itself is closely related to agricultural industrialization.
The third type of county-level economic development mainly relies on industrial parks to undertake industrial transfer. Most of this type of county-level economy is in the central and western regions, and the economy develops through the effect of industrial agglomeration.
In Lu Dewen's view, the second type of county economic development model is the most ideal, and the quality of urbanization is relatively high. On the one hand, it is more convenient for farmers to enter the city, and on the other hand, the rural labor force can be fully employed locally.
"The local employment level is relatively high, and young people can engage in related industries in the city without leaving their hometowns to work outside."
It is not difficult to see that the county economy has occupied a relatively high share in the national economic development, but the development of the county economy is also unbalanced, especially in recent years, some counties in the west and northeast have shrunk.
Chen Ming believes that from the perspective of the laws of the world, with changes in population distribution and industrial upgrading, it is an inevitable trend for some cities to decline and shrink.
For these cities, the best way out is not to seek revival or re-growth, but to acknowledge the reality of shrinking people and land, and maintain urban vitality through industrial transformation and social construction.
Regarding the difference between the economic development of the eastern, central and western counties, Huang Jianhong believes that many counties outside the eastern part are in a state of net population output, large-scale population loss and economic structure transformation, village governance structure restructuring, rural cultural identity reshaping and The reconstruction of social order is not carried out simultaneously, and to some extent, the county economy will face a shrinking trend.
Small county, big industry
The vigorous development of the county economy is inseparable from the support of the industry. The same industry is also an important foundation for the development of the county's urbanization. Many small counties in China have large industries.
For example, 70% of domestic socks are produced in Zhuji, Zhejiang, 40% of sports shoes are produced in Jinjiang, Fujian, and 30% of Hanfu is produced in Caoxian, Shandong.
Wafangdian City, Liaoning Province is known as the "City of Bearings", and the diameter and precision of the produced bearings are among the top in the world...
Behind the increasingly resounding business card of the county industry is the continuous expansion of the county economy and the rapid development of industrial clusters over the years.
Ye Zhenyu told the Xinjing Think Tank that these counties based on their own advantages and development opportunities, fully grasped the conditions of factor resources, and not only "created something out of nothing", dared to innovate, but also seized some "detonating" "county industries" in industrial development.
The development of industries is an important way to expand the county economy, and some counties have also formed their own unique industrial clusters.
For example, Cao County, Shandong Province, "out of the circle" because of its rich Hanfu.
Xinjing Think Tank learned that Cao County, Shandong Province has more than 2,000 upstream and downstream enterprises in the Hanfu industry chain, and more than 600 original Hanfu processing enterprises, which has formed the largest performance clothing industry cluster in China.
Xinjing Think Tank also noticed that in the five categories of directions mentioned in the "Opinions" to guide the development of county towns, actively cultivating specialized functional counties and rationally developing counties in the main producing areas of agricultural products proposed to cultivate and develop pillar industries and focus on the development of rural areas. industry and extend the agricultural industry chain.
In this regard, Huang Jianhong said that the development of industries in different county towns is different. From the perspective of development path, the county towns with characteristic industries are more of a market-led development result, that is to say, the optimal allocation of resources will eventually form an industrial agglomeration effect. .
In Huang Jianhong's view, the main development direction of these counties in the main producing areas of agricultural products is not to face central cities and megacities, but to correspond to the agricultural industry in the corresponding region because of the need to extend the chain of the agricultural industry.
"For the development of such counties, the main thing is to find the right position, to expand and strengthen the fine processing and deep processing of agricultural products, and to cultivate their own leading agricultural industrialization enterprises."
Regarding the current industrial development of the county seat, Chen Wensheng believes that the county seat should rely on local agriculture to choose the track of the secondary industry, focus on "subsidizing agriculture with industry" to expand new space for industrial development, while guiding the outflow of rural labor and improving the efficiency of land use, Radiation drives the transformation and upgrading of rural industries.
Governance Modernization
County governance is the foundation and important link in the national governance system, and county governance and county development constitute a two-way interactive relationship.
A number of interviewed experts told Xinjing Think Tank that how to comprehensively and effectively improve the level of county governance is not only related to whether the county economy can achieve high-quality development, but also to the advancement of the modernization of the national governance system and governance capabilities.
In recent years, with the comprehensive advancement of digital government construction, the digitalization of county areas can sink governance and services, upgrade grassroots governance models and improve work efficiency.
Shan Zhiguang, director of the Informatization and Industrial Development Department of the State Information Center and director of the Smart City Development Research Center, once said that only digitalization can play a pivotal role as a link between the previous and the next, and achieve coordinated and high-quality urban and rural development.
In Chen Wensheng's view, the construction of county-level digital government has three functions. One is governance. From a top-level perspective, unified management within the government is carried out, data integration and application opening are provided horizontally, and business collaboration and data sharing are realized to improve the overall office efficiency. The overall work process.
The second is service. Based on the principle of "letting data run more and people less errands", it is oriented to commissions and bureaus, manages functions from a line point of view, and provides services for the masses and enterprises to efficiently handle matters through windows and platform applications.
The third is decision-making. Through data access and intuitive presentation, it vertically provides various practical functional application subjects to help leaders make scientific decisions.
It is worth noting that this "Opinion" also clearly proposes to develop smart county towns, implement the unified management of municipal public facilities, the one-stop service of government services, and the one-stop sharing of public services.
Huang Jianhong said that in addition to the "three ones", it is also very important to implement one network of urban data.
"For example, the intelligent transformation of residential areas, intelligent transportation, intelligent grid, and intelligent water affairs all require data to be available through one network, which not only affects the management decision-making of urban operations, but also improves the ability to assist decision-making and emergency handling, and is also a very important factor for the convenience of ordinary people's lives. things." Huang Jianhong said.
However, in promoting the construction of county-level digital government, Lv Dewen believes that for most counties, the improvement of governance level cannot rely solely on digital government construction, because county-level governance is quite different from metropolitan governance.
"Because the work object and content of county-level governance are people and things at the most grassroots level, we cannot blindly promote the construction of a digital government for the sake of digitization."
In this regard, Chen Ming also believes that the development of the economic level is relatively good, which can enhance the digital governance and digital service capabilities of the county, so as to force the construction of an efficient government, a transparent government, and a service government.
Lv Dewen emphasized that the development of the county should be done step by step, adapting measures to local conditions, and not in a hurry.
The promotion of the urbanization strategy with the county seat as the carrier is not to encourage the large development of each county seat in the short term, but to guide the orderly development of all regions.
Beijing News reporter Zha Zhiyuan and intern Wu Yefan