Although there is basically no difference in the policy benefits among national-level new areas, "from a regional perspective, they can still play a leading and driving role—for example, national-level new areas established in the western region can leverage industrial agglomeration effects to drive regional economic development."

Western Development “13th Five-Year” Plan Issued

The National Development and Reform Commission recently published the full text of the "Western Development 13th Five-Year Plan" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), whose "projected indicators" include: by 2020, the GDP and urban and rural residents' income of the western region will more than double those of 2010, and the gap in economic and social development levels with the rest of the country will narrow significantly; the urbanization rate calculated by permanent resident population will reach over 54%; and per capita disposable income of residents will increase from 16,868 yuan in 2015 to 26,000 yuan in 2020.

The reporter noted that national-level new areas in the western region are expected to expand further during the "13th Five-Year" period. The Plan states that several new national-level new areas will be cultivated in eligible areas. Currently in the western region, Xinjiang's "Chengbei New Area," Guangxi's "Wuxiang New Area," and Inner Mongolia's "Helingeer New Area" are national-level new areas "pending approval."

Strict "binding indicators" proposed

China's western region includes 12 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government): Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Guangxi. Although it accounts for 72% of the country's land area, its 2015 GDP of 14.5 trillion yuan accounted for only 20.1% of the country's total GDP.

Therefore, in the further subdivided indicators of the above Plan, the projected GDP indicator for the western region will increase from 14.5019 trillion yuan in 2015 to 20 trillion yuan in 2020; the proportion of value added of the service sector will increase from 42.5% in 2015 to 45% in 2020; and the intensity of research and experimental development expenditure will increase from 1.2% to 2.0%.

While economic indicators increase, the Plan also sets strict "binding indicators" for ecological and environmental improvement. For example, by 2020, the comprehensive vegetation coverage of grasslands must increase from 50.6% in 2015 to 53.6%, and the 44.85 million mu of wetlands must not decrease by 2020.

The reporter noted that as a "13th Five-Year" plan established for western development, it tilts policies toward underdeveloped areas. For example, the Plan states that before 2020, in provinces (regions) without universities directly under the Ministry of Education and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, "support will be provided to build one local high-level university in each"; at the same time, in response to the current phenomenon of large numbers of migrant workers returning from the eastern coastal areas to the interior, the Plan also states that a number of comprehensive service centers for migrant workers will be established in cities at the prefecture (city) level and above in the western region to provide basic services such as rights protection for migrant workers.

In terms of spatial development layout, the Plan states that an overall spatial pattern of "five horizontal, two vertical, and one ring" will be formed, namely building five horizontal axes—the western section of the Eurasian Land Bridge Corridor, the western section of the Beijing-Tibet Corridor, the western section of the Yangtze River–Sichuan-Tibet Corridor, the western section of the Shanghai-Kunming Corridor, and the western section of the Pearl River–Xijiang Corridor—two vertical axes—the Baotou-Kunming Corridor and the Hohhot-Nanning Corridor—and one ring consisting of key border areas.

In terms of industry, the Plan proposes cultivating strategic emerging industries suited to the actual conditions of the western region, such as a new generation of information technology, high-end equipment, new materials, new energy, and biomedicine, to form new leading industries.

National-level new areas may expand further

The Plan states that several new national-level new areas will be cultivated in eligible areas.

The reporter noted that the western region currently already has national-level new areas such as Chongqing Liangjiang, Gansu Lanzhou, Shaanxi Xixian, Guizhou Gui'an, Sichuan Tianfu, and Yunnan Dianzhong. The above statement in the Plan means that national-level new areas in the western region will be further expanded.

The Plan shows that three national-level new areas are in "pending approval" status, located in Xinjiang, Guangxi, and Inner Mongolia.

Among them, Xinjiang's national-level new area is "Chengbei New Area," Guangxi's is "Wuxiang New Area," and Inner Mongolia's is "Helingeer New Area."

If all three national-level new areas are approved, the number of national-level new areas in the western region will reach 9, meaning that all western provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions except Tibet, Qinghai, and Ningxia will have national-level new areas.

Yi Peng, chairman of the Pangoal Institution, said that compared with the earliest approved Shanghai Pudong New Area and Tianjin Binhai New Area, the possibility that later-approved national-level new areas will receive special central authority and preferential policies has been greatly reduced.

Although there is basically no difference in the policy benefits among national-level new areas, Yi Peng believes that "from a regional perspective, they can still play a leading and driving role—for example, national-level new areas established in the western region can leverage industrial agglomeration effects to drive regional economic development."

Regarding regional cooperation, the Plan proposes promoting a "clustering" development model among regions.

The Plan states that central cities in the western region such as Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Guiyang, and Kunming will strengthen economic collaboration and explore cooperation mechanisms.

Statistics show that in 2016 the total GDP of the five cities of Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an, Kunming, and Guiyang was 4.32 trillion yuan, of which Chengdu was 1.2 trillion yuan, Chongqing 1.75 trillion yuan, Xi'an 0.6257 trillion yuan, Guiyang 0.3157 trillion yuan, and Kunming 0.43 trillion yuan.

Yang Jirui, chairman of the Chengdu Federation of Social Sciences, said that the five cities of Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an, Kunming, and Guiyang are all located in the western region and are all municipalities directly under the central government or provincial capital-level cities. Economically, their common features are large economic aggregate, high industrial concentration, and strong radiating capacity. If they can form a joint force, they will play a pivotal role in the sustainable economic development of the western region.

In addition to Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an, Kunming, and Guiyang, the Plan also states that support will be given to Chongqing's Qijiang and Wansheng and Guizhou's Zunyi to carry out the construction of a Chongqing-Guizhou cooperation pilot zone; support will be given to the junction of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou to build a comprehensive poverty alleviation and development pilot zone in the Chishui River basin; and support will be given to the adjacent areas of Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, and Gansu to improve coordinated development mechanisms.