After having abolished or merged 21 provincial-level economic development zones due to prominent issues such as weak industrial foundations and industrial homogeneity, China’s Liaoning Province will continue its sweeping reforms and will abolish or merge an additional 28 provincial-level economic development zones.
According to a report by CCTV’s “Focus Interview” program on Saturday (June 6), economic and technological development zones were originally experimental fields for reform and opening up, and growth poles for economic development. However, for a period of time, some areas have seen problems such as expanding in scale without regard for quality. Some development zones are small in size, lack quality and efficiency, suffer from unclear positioning, scattered layouts, and converged industries.
In order to enable development zones to achieve high-quality growth, Liaoning Province has abolished or consolidated 21 provincial-level economic development zones in recent months.
Liu Dianhui, Deputy Director of the Liaoning Provincial Department of Commerce, said that when there are too many development zones, each one will introduce its own policies. When the same project comes to the area, it can lead to competition and the introduction of increasingly preferential policies, resulting in policy “involution.”
Liu Dianhui, Deputy Director of the Liaoning Provincial Department of Commerce, said that when there are too many development zones, each one will introduce its own policies. When the same project comes to the area, it can lead to competition and the introduction of increasingly preferential policies, resulting in policy “involution.”
The report pointed out that the 21 provincial-level economic development zones that were abolished or merged in Liaoning Province generally faced issues such as poor growth potential and unreasonable planning and layout, resulting in poor quality and efficiency.
Liu Dianhui explained that, firstly, the industrial foundation of the development zones was not solid enough. For example, some lacked industrial development planning, their leading industries were unfocused and too numerous, and they failed to form genuine leading or distinctive industries. Secondly, the issue of industrial homogeneity was particularly prominent. Without differentiated development, severe homogeneity easily leads to involution, resulting in small overall scale, weak development capabilities, difficulty in attracting investment, and overall poor quality and efficiency.
In addition to merging and abolishing 21 provincial-level economic development zones, Liaoning has also carried out multiple reform measures for other provincial-level development zones, including streamlining internal institutions, stripping away social management functions, expanding economic management authority, and establishing a financial sharing mechanism with local governments. The aim is to enable development zones to focus on economic development, investment promotion, and enterprise-related services, achieving high-quality growth.
In addition to merging and abolishing 21 provincial-level economic development zones, Liaoning has also carried out multiple reform measures for other provincial-level development zones, including streamlining internal institutions, stripping away social management functions, expanding economic management authority, and establishing a financial sharing mechanism with local governments. The aim is to enable development zones to focus on economic development, investment promotion, and enterprise-related services, achieving high-quality growth.
Liu Dianhui said that this round of development zone reforms insists on turning the blade inward, using reforms to force development zones to accelerate high-quality growth, to drive the transformation of city, county, and district governance models and the overall planning of industrial development, and to contribute greater strength to Liaoning’s comprehensive revitalization.
Next, Liaoning Province will abolish or merge another 28 provincial-level economic development zones, basically completing the phased goal of consolidation and optimization, making the main business of the development zones more focused and the open character more evident.
The report states that Liaoning’s decisive merger and consolidation of provincial-level economic development zones aims to shift from the former practice of “spreading out” to “leveling up” for the future. For abolished development zones, local governments will continue to provide enterprises with high-quality, full-process services. For the remaining development zones, the goal is to consolidate and upgrade advanced manufacturing industrial foundations and develop new quality productive forces in accordance with local conditions.