The Evolution and Differentiation of Economic Convergence of Resource-based Cities in Northeast China

A key target of the overall strategy implementation for regional development since the 18th Party Congress of China has involved taking measures to narrow regional disparities. This is because resource-based cities' economic development has fallen below general levels due to resource exhaustion and an unbalanced industrial structure, among other factors. Further, an economic gap has long existed between Northeast China's large number of resource-based cities and non-resource-based cities. This article comprehensively studies the economic convergence of Northeast China's resource-based cities and non-resource-based cities from 1996 to 2015 by using a dynamic panel to analyze not only the economic development of different industries and types of cities, but also the main factors that influence economic development. The empirical results demonstrate that economic convergence exists in both resource-based and non-resource-based cities, but the economic gap between them has clearly narrowed since the implementation of a strategy to revitalize the Northeast's old industrial base. Shrinking cities are the fastest to converge, as mature cities are slower and regenerating cities are the slowest; regarding industry structure, the secondary industry dominates the economy in mature and shrinking cities, and the tertiary industry in regenerating cities. The primary stimulus in resource-based cities' economic development involves upgrading the industrial structure and investing in human capital. As China faces a ‘new normal' economy, resource-based cities in Northeast China should restructure the economy and perfect their market system to avoid again widening the economic gap.

Comparison and Measurement of Economic Growth in Coastal Areas and Inland Provinces of China

This study aims to measure the regional difference in economic growth and the driving effect of export of coastal areas for inland provinces in China from the perspective of labor division.Embedded input and output data are adopted on the basis of the input-output theory for economic growth and trade accounting.Since China’s accession to WTO,vertical specialization across areas has been improved in general,but the areas differ widely in their participation in labor division in the global value chain(GVC)and national value chain(NVC).Different areas in China mainly rely on local production for economic growth,but engagement in GVC and NVC labor division is the major driver for the country’s rapid economic growth.Under the external impact,local economic growth has relied less on the outside,but more on local production since 2008.The driving effect of export of coastal areas for inland provinces is mainly reflected in agriculture,indicating that inland provinces and cities indirectly participate in international division of labor mainly by providing raw materials for production for eastern areas.This study,based on GVC and NVC integration and interaction,conducts in-depth research on the driving effect of export of coastal areas for the economic development of inland provinces,and offers a new perspective for studying the regional difference in economic growth in China.