"Rethinking China's Development Strategy for the Inner Region --Trickle-down Effects from the Coastal Region to the Inner Region--"

1978年中国实行改革开放政策后，地区差距已是有目共睹。为了缩小区域差距，我们认为长江沿岸地区必须成为经济发展从沿海向内陆延伸的主要途径。基于这一观点，我们通过对当地官员、学者和商人的访谈，考察了该地区的区域发展状况，并比较了长江沿岸地区的发展战略。我们的主要发现如下：首先，长江没有很好地发挥货物流通网络的作用。而部分通车的沿江高速公路，新建的穿越中部地区的京九线，对加强区域一体化具有积极作用。第二，地方政府发展战略各有侧重，缺乏一致性。地方政府间的政策协调虽已出现，但仍不成熟，中央政府没有适当的政策工具来调节地方政府间的矛盾。第三，超越行政区域的“区域经济区”正在逐步形成，但实际情况十分复杂。一方面，由于市场竞争激烈，彩电等几种商品在全国流通，另一方面，在汽车生产等核心产业领域，地方政府的保护主义仍然明显。

After the Policies of reform and opening China adopted in 1978, regional disparities have become obvious to all. In order to narrow the regional disparities, we believe that regions along the Changjinang River will have to become a main route where the economic development have spread from the coastal into the inner regions. Based on this point of view, we examine the state of the regional developemet in this areas and compare the development strategies among the regions along the Changjiang River through interviews with local officials, scholars and businessmen.Our main findings are as follows ; First, The Changjiang River does not work well as the network of circulation of goods. However, highways along the river which have partially opened, newly established Jingjiu Line which goes across the Central regions, are positive role on strengthening regional integration.Second, local governments have made their development strategies in their own way, they have lacked consistency. Policy coordination among the local governments has appeared, but still too week, and the central government has not appropriate policy instruments adjusting the contradiction among them.Third, "Regional Economic Zone" beyond administrative areas have been forming gradually, but the actual situations were very complicated. On the one hand, thanks to severe market competition, several goods like color TV are circulating with nation-wide, on the other hand protectionism by local governments are still obvious in the field of core industries like automobile production.