After decades of reform and opening up, my country's economy has achieved world-renowned achievements, and its international status has become higher and higher. The infrastructure such as high-speed rail construction has surpassed many developed countries, but the unbalanced domestic economic development still exists. The Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Delta, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and the Chengdu-Chongqing twin-city economic circle are the four super engines of my country's development. Everyone can understand the development of the first three regions because they are all located on the eastern coast of my country. Can it also become a national strategic highland? Because there are two giant cities, Chongqing and Chengdu, Chengdu is the capital of a large province, and Chongqing is a municipality directly under the central government. Many netizens and experts believe that the reason why Chengdu and Chongqing can rise to the height of national strategy is because Chongqing was directly under the central government in 1997. The development of this area has injected a strong impetus.
So under the current new economy and new situation, can a new municipality be promoted to drive the development of other regions? In this regard, many experts have studied the feasibility of this aspect. An article of this kind was found in the "Journal of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences" before. Adjust administrative divisions. The article argues that the establishment of municipalities directly under the Central Government and a flattened management structure will improve administrative efficiency and resource allocation, thus driving the economic development of surrounding areas.
In this article, I mentioned Kashgar in Xinjiang. Kashgar is a beautiful area in Xinjiang. It is characterized by a particularly long sunshine time and a lot of delicacies, especially mutton. With a total population of about 4.63 million and a GDP of 113 billion in 2020, it is the transportation hub and international commercial port in Northwest my country, and the only national historical and cultural city in Xinjiang.
Kashgar has a large area, almost twice the size of Chongqing, but its population is small and its economy is relatively small. However, its strategic location is prominent. In 2010, it was listed as the country's sixth special economic zone, and it is also an inland area of China. If it can be designated as a municipality directly under the central government, it will greatly promote the stability and development of the western situation.
In addition to Kashgar, Lanzhou in the northwest region has also been rumored to be directly under the central government. Its economic volume in the northwest is second only to Xi'an, and it is also a city of extremely important strategic significance. It is located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River economic belt and sits on the main railway artery. Haixian is a key node city along the Belt and Road. It has a national-level new district, Lanzhou New District, and a key university of 985 and 211—Lanzhou University. It is the frontier and an important gateway for the country to open to the west.
But Lanzhou also has shortcomings. Not only is the surrounding population small and the city’s strength is insufficient, but its own GDP is less than 300 billion (288.674 billion in 2020). Not to mention competing with major provincial capitals, it is competing with Luoyang, Xiangyang, and Mianyang Compared with the second-tier cities in the central and western regions, there is no advantage. Even if the surrounding areas are merged, the economic size and population base are still a shortcoming.
Finally, I have to talk about Xi’an, because mentioning the Northwest, not mentioning Xi’an is absolutely disrespectful to Shaanxi, because Xi’an’s comprehensive strength is the absolute leader in the Northwest, whether it is GDP, or science, education, culture and health, the Northwest has no rivals, but It is not easy for Xi’an to be directly under the central government, because it has concentrated almost all the advantageous resources of Shaanxi. If Xi’an is directly under the direct control, it will do great harm to Shaanxi. After all, the current situation of Shaanxi Province is different from the original situation of Sichuan Province. When Chongqing may be directly under the central government, Chengdu will be developed with the strength of the whole province. However, according to the current economic distribution of Shaanxi, except for Xi'an, no city has the strength to carry the banner of the entire Shaanxi. Yulin, the strongest, is a single resource-based city, while Xianyang and Baoji are too small. If Xi'an was directly under the central government, Shaanxi's economy might not be as good as Guizhou's.
my country's four major municipalities, Beijing and Tianjin are in the north, Shanghai is in the east, Chongqing is in the southwest, and there are two giant cities in the south, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Therefore, new municipalities are likely to emerge in the central or northwest regions. If there are cities in the northwest Directly under the Central Government, which of the three cities, Xi'an, Kashgar, and Lanzhou, do you think has a better chance? Or are there other cities that are more suitable for direct administration?
