Behind the intensive exchange of visits by party and government "number one" in many places

Author: Zhang Xinyu

Published in the 2023th issue of China Newsweek magazine on April 4, 10

Since mid-March, there has been a "reciprocal visit fever" in the three city clusters of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Party and government delegations from many places have visited neighboring provinces and cities for inspection and study, and all of them are led by the "number one" of the party and government.

In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Beijing municipal party and government delegation visited Tianjin and Hebei on March 3 and 17, and the Hebei provincial party and government delegation visited Tianjin on March 18.

In the Yangtze River Delta, the Shanghai Municipal Party and Government Delegation went to Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang from March 3 to 16, and the Jiangsu Provincial Party and Government Delegation then went to Shanghai, Zhejiang and Anhui from March 18 to 3.

In Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, Guangdong has become a common destination for study in Guangxi and Guizhou. Party and government delegations from Guangxi and Guizhou went to Guangdong Province from March 3 to 17 and March 18 to 3 respectively. In addition, the Guangxi party and government delegation also went to Hainan for inspection and exchange on March 23-25, and the Guizhou party and government delegation went to Guangxi for inspection and exchange on March 3-18.

As Xin Changxing, Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, said at the study tour summary and exchange meeting, "With the attitude of learning and the perspective of comparison, everyone has the shock of 'not looking and not knowing' and the inspiration of 'it can be like this'." ”

Liu Zhiyan, director of the National Future City Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with China Newsweek that the three urban agglomerations of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area are the three major engines of China's economy, and have a great economic driving effect on the northern region, the Yangtze River Basin and the southern coastal areas Take the lead and achieve a good start in the year of the change of government."

Exchange visits within the three major city clusters

It is not a new phenomenon for local party and government leading cadres to visit and study in other provinces and cities, and it has become more frequent in recent years.

Ma Liang, a researcher at the National Institute of Development and Strategy of Chinese Minmin University and a professor at the School of Public Management, published an article in 2019 entitled "Policy Learning Between Chinese Cities: Network, Structure and Characteristics", through the analysis of the data of local party and government delegations from nearly 300 cities at the prefecture level and above to study in other regions in the past five years, he found that policy learning between Chinese cities is becoming more and more obvious, which is reflected in the increasing number of study visits and learnings year by year.

He told China Newsweek that the study of party and government delegations to other regions is a more distinctive kind of policy study, because the main leaders of the party and government personally participate in the docking, and the effect of policy study is more obvious.

However, compared with previous years' study visits, this round of mutual visits is more special. This year is the year of the change of office, and almost all of the people who lead the exchange of visits between local party and government delegations are newly appointed party and government "number one". In addition, according to Ma Liang's previous survey, the intensive period of local government inspection and study is usually May ~ August, because the flexible time of local governments in summer is relatively abundant. But this time, party and government delegations from all localities began non-stop inspection and study after the conclusion of the National People's Congress and the National People's Congress.

Ma Liang believes that this is because this year is a key year to step up economic development after the epidemic is released, "so all places are riveted and hope to do a big job, and it will naturally give rise to the demand for mutual visits."

This round of mutual visits also has the background of "the wind of investigation and research". With the recent issuance by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee of the "Work Plan for Investigation and Study in the Whole Party" and the issuance of a circular, investigation and study have become a high-frequency word in the deployment of work in various localities. At the summing-up and exchange meeting held by the Jiangsu provincial party and government delegation, Nobunaga said that all localities and departments should "vigorously carry out investigation and study, persist in being problem-oriented," conscientiously study the advantages of others and earnestly promote their own strengths, make up for weaknesses in a down-to-earth manner, and strive to turn weaknesses into strengths.

In addition, compared with the past, this group of party and government delegations also has a distinctive feature, that is, the principle of proximity and regional integration, that is, the above-mentioned exchange visits between the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and the internal provinces of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

The three urban agglomerations of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao are particularly critical to China's economic development. Liu Zhiyan pointed out that the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is the core of the Bohai Rim Economic Zone and can radiate northeast and northwest; The Yangtze River Delta is the leader of the Yangtze River Basin, which has a certain demonstration and pulling effect on the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River; Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have a pulling effect on the surrounding provinces of Fujian, Guangxi, Hainan, Guizhou and other provinces.

Therefore, as Chen Yao, researcher at the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vice president and secretary general of the China Regional Economic Association, told China Newsweek, after the new "number one" of the party and government in various places takes office, in order to implement the country's major regional strategies, it is necessary to familiarize themselves with each other and communicate the development ideas of the new government in person.

In addition, the new environment and conditions are also prompting China to adjust its regional coordinated development strategy, which requires more communication and coordination between the "number one" of the party and government.

Since 2020, the new crown epidemic has had a huge impact on the global economy, and the contribution rate of exports has declined in the "troika" that drives economic growth, and the dependence of China's economy on foreign trade has decreased significantly. Zhang Keyun, a professor at the Institute of Regional and Urban Economics at the School of Applied Economics of Chinese University, told China Newsweek that the phased and spatial distribution characteristics of China's domestic development determine that the potential of domestic demand is still very large, and promoting coordinated regional development will become an important driving force for economic growth.

Liu Zhiyan also proposed that there is still great potential for regional economic cooperation between provinces, and neighboring provinces can form complementary industrial chains and innovation chains, form synergy, and release the 1+1>2 effect through coordinated regional development.

Scientific and technological innovation has become an important theme

From Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta to Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, although there are differences in the study destinations of party and government delegations in various places, there are also obvious commonalities, "From the perspective of the theme of the investigation, they are all driven by the economy, and they are committed to promoting economic growth through cross-regional cooperation." Ma Liang said.

In the article "Policy Learning Between Chinese Cities: Network, Structure and Characteristics", Ma Liang pointed out that the highest proportion of study between cities is economic development, accounting for 71.5%. This feature is still prominent today.

Ma Liang added that compared with the past, the theme of this round of party and government delegations' mutual visits is more focused and refined, rather than large, reflecting a more targeted and targeted investigation. Specifically, in the study and study content of economic development, "scientific and technological innovation" has become a theme that all party and government delegations attach great importance to, and a large number of inspection trips are closely related to it.

Chen Yao said that innovation is the first driving force for development, and strengthening the circulation of innovation resources and elements through mutual visits and promoting cooperation between innovation subjects is an important way for innovation and development in various places.

On March 3, during the inspection of Tianjin, the Beijing Municipal Party and Government delegation specially went to Tianjin Binhai-Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park, which is an important platform for Beijing and Tianjin to build a collaborative innovation community, with a total of more than 18,4000 registered enterprises. According to reports, the Beijing delegation walked into the Collaborative Innovation Exhibition Center to understand the development history of the park and inspect the innovation achievements of key enterprises and R&D institutions.

At the subsequent Beijing-Tianjin Work Exchange Forum, Yin Li, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, pointed out that it is necessary to combine Beijing's scientific and technological innovation advantages with Tianjin's advanced manufacturing research and development advantages, strengthen joint research on key core technologies, jointly build the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei National Technology Innovation Center, and enhance the ability of scientific and technological innovation growth engine.

During the inspection and study, the party and government delegations in the Yangtze River Delta had more itinerary related to scientific and technological innovation. It is worth noting that the places visited by the party and government delegations are either very attractive to them, or because the provinces where the party and government delegations are located have shortcomings in this area and need to be further strengthened.

Anhui Hefei has advantages in some cutting-edge technology fields, and the Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has made many major scientific research achievements in the fields of plasma physics, artificial intelligence and robotics, so it has become a destination for party and government delegations from Shanghai and Jiangsu Province. Shanghai has accelerated the development of the big data industry in recent years, and the party and government delegation of Jiangsu Province specially went to the Shanghai big data center to study. Zhejiang has a good industrial foundation and complements the industrial chain with neighboring provinces, and technology companies Shenhao Technology Company and Ziguang Hengyue Company have also become the object of inspection of the Jiangsu Provincial Party and Government Delegation this time.

An interesting phenomenon is that when party and government delegations in many places inspect and study content related to scientific and technological innovation, they go straight to the front line of enterprises, which Ma Liang believes reflects the local government's concern for industrial development.

In the inspection and study of the Guizhou party and government delegation, the enterprise has a strong sense of presence. During the visit to Guangdong from March 3 to 23, the Guizhou party and government delegation went to Tencent, Huawei and other enterprises to exchange views with them on deepening cooperation. The "number one" of the party and government expressed gratitude to the two enterprises for their support and help to Guizhou, and hoped that the two enterprises would increase investment in Guizhou and accelerate the construction of projects in Guizhou.

In addition, during the visit of the Guizhou delegation to Guangdong, the 2023 Guangdong-Qian Industry Cooperation Conference was held in Shenzhen, and 23 industrial investment projects were signed on site, covering industries such as basic materials, modern energy, big data electronic information, sauce and liquor, new energy vehicles and battery materials, and a number of industrial projects were settled in Guizhou, with a total signed amount of 493.1 billion yuan.

Chen Yao pointed out that in addition to learning experience, the exchange of visits between local party and government delegations also has a very important task, that is, to attract investment and investment, especially targeting the main enterprises of the industrial chain. The relevant person in charge of the Investment Promotion Bureau of Guizhou Province said that in the past year, Guizhou Province has successively introduced 1590,3000 projects in Guangdong Province, with a total agreed investment of about 2022 billion yuan. According to the Guizhou Investment Promotion Bureau, 41% of the contract value in Guizhou in <> came from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

How to go further in coordinated regional development

It is not difficult to see from the exchange of visits of party and government delegations from many places that in the new environment and conditions, promoting coordinated regional development has become an important task for local governments. From the current point of view, what are the key issues that need to be solved in coordinated regional development? Liu Zhiyan pointed out that it lies in the integration of the industrial chain.

The degree of integration of the industrial chain of these three major urban agglomerations is different. A number of interviewed experts pointed out to China Newsweek that the integration of the industrial chain in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is relatively slow, and the degree of industrial chain integration is not enough. Liu Zhiyan believes that Beijing's influence on the surrounding areas is limited, and the industrial correlation between Tianjin and Hebei is low.

Yang Daoling, Director of the Big Data Analysis Division of the Big Data Development Department of the State Information Center, published an article in March this year entitled "Research on the Coordinated Development Index of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Industry Based on Big Data", in which he calculated and analyzed the industrial coordinated development index of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in 3~2015 year by year and concluded that the level of coordinated industrial development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has generally improved steadily, basically achieving the status of regional development in the "Outline of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Coordinated Development Plan" released in 2020, but around 2015, There has been a downward trend in the coordinated development of the industry.

In Liu Zhiyan's view, the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei requires matching the ecological environment, infrastructure, supporting policies, business environment, and public services, followed by industrial integration, and finally the overall integration.

Judging from this exchange of visits, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is accelerating the integration of these aspects.

An important outcome of the exchange of party and government delegations in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was the signing of a strategic cooperation framework agreement or strategic cooperation agreement between the three cities. Taking the Framework Agreement on Further Strengthening Strategic Cooperation between Beijing Municipal People's Government and Tianjin Municipal People's Government signed by Beijing and Tianjin as an example, the agreement points out that the two sides will improve the coordination mechanism, jointly promote the integrated development of the innovation chain, industrial chain and supply chain, expand the breadth and depth of cooperation around the construction of functional undertaking platforms, infrastructure interconnection, joint construction and prevention of ecological environment, innovation linkage in pilot free trade zones, and joint construction and sharing of basic public services, and promote the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei.

From the perspective of ecological environment governance, the Beijing Municipal Party and Government Delegation specially went to Tianjin to inspect the Haihe River Comprehensive Treatment and Transformation Project, which is also the focus of the Beijing Municipal Party and Government Delegation when visiting Tianjin for study in the past few years. In addition, during the Beijing Municipal Party and Government delegation to Baiyangdian during their stay in Hebei to inspect the ecological environment management and protection work, Ni Yuefeng, secretary of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, stressed that it is necessary to speed up the restoration of Baiyangdian's "kidney of North China" function, deepen the coordinated management of regional river basins, coordinate the management of urban water, forest and field systems, strengthen the comprehensive treatment of groundwater overexploitation, and resolutely act as an ecological security barrier for the capital.

With the exchange of visits by party and government delegations from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the integration process of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is being promoted. Recently, the Beijing Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau, Tianjin Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau and Hebei Provincial Medical Insurance Bureau jointly issued the Notice on Carrying out the Filing of Medical Treatment in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, starting from April 4, insured persons in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Coordinating Districts will be able to seek medical treatment and purchase drugs in all designated medical institutions in the three regions, without the need to seek medical treatment in different places.

In horizontal comparison, the industrial chain of the Yangtze River Delta has a relatively high degree of integration.

Zhang Keyun believes that regional cooperation after the reform and opening up is divided into two stages, the first stage is led by local governments, and the second stage is led by enterprises. In 1992, the Yangtze River Delta region has shifted from regional cooperation led by local governments to regional cooperation led by enterprises, with a relatively high degree of integration.

However, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta still needs to be tackled. Zhang Keyun said that in the case of similar levels of development, how to overcome local interests, not engage in small circles, and avoid vicious competition in Yangtze River Delta cities is an urgent problem that needs to be solved at present, "For example, all cities in the Yangtze River Delta are working on the photovoltaic industry, fierce competition, so there is a problem of overcapacity."

Liu Zhiyan also pointed out that the situation of administrative barriers in the Yangtze River Delta region is still prominent, specifically manifested in regional difference barriers and administrative management barriers, the former is mainly because of the difference in economic development level between administrative blocks, the latter is because of the administrative division at the spatial level, local protectionism still exists.

Liu Zhiyan suggested that the Yangtze River Delta region should integrate the existing metropolitan areas to build two major economic circles in Shanghai and Nanjing, of which the Shanghai Economic Circle should dominate the Shanghai Metropolitan Area, the Suxi Changdu Metropolitan Area, the Hangzhou Metropolitan Area and the Ningbo Metropolitan Area, and the Nanjing Economic Circle should dominate the Nanjing Metropolitan Area, Hefei Metropolitan Area and Xuzhou Metropolitan Area. The integration of infrastructure, public services, innovative resources, industrial cooperation and ecological environment co-governance should be accelerated within the two economic circles.

In Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, in recent years, Guangdong Qian and Guangdong and Guangxi have made great progress in east-west cooperation.

From the perspective of cooperation between Guangdong and Guizhou, cooperation in the field of big data and digital economy is eye-catching. Zhang Keyun said that Guizhou's coal resources and hydropower resources have obvious advantages, and the geology, climate and other conditions are suitable for the construction of data centers. In recent years, enterprises including Tencent Cloud have successively deployed data centers in Guizhou, becoming a typical example of the "East Data and West Calculation" project, effectively promoting the coordination between the east and the west. From this point of view, Guizhou can form industrial complementarity with Guangdong and undertake industrial transfer in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Chen Yao also believes that Guizhou has "found a good development path". However, the development of the digital economy requires a large number of talents, and Guizhou, as an underdeveloped province, is not yet very attractive in terms of attracting talents, so it is necessary to introduce more policies to attract talents and promote industrial growth.

Guangxi's industrial base is relatively weak, and there are not many advantageous projects. Chen Yao believes that Guangxi can undertake more manufacturing links in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, such as electronic processing assembly and chip packaging and testing enterprises for the ASEAN market, and develop emerging industries.

Several experts pointed out that at present, the exchange of party and government delegations in various urban agglomerations will inevitably push the inter-provincial cooperation in the region to a new climax, but there will also be their own considerations within the province. Next, unified planning and overall guidance from the central government are still needed to further release the reform dividend.

China Newsweek, Issue 2023, 13

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