A new round of policies to support the rapid rise of central China is coming! The primary direction is manufacturing

　　It is understood that the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development in the Central Region in the New Era" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council has been issued to local governments, and local governments are studying and formulating implementation plans.

　　The new round of policies to support the accelerated rise of the central region involves many aspects, with the key contents being to expand and strengthen advanced manufacturing and promote the development of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River urban agglomeration and the Central Plains urban agglomeration.

　　The central region is expected to become a new economic growth pole

　　The central region includes six provinces, namely Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan, and occupies an important position in China's regional economic landscape. In 2019, the total economic output of the six central provinces was about 21.8 trillion yuan, accounting for 22% of the national GDP. From the perspective of economic growth ranking in 2019, five of the six central provinces ranked among the top 10 in the country, changing from "following" in major regional sectors for a long time to "leading".

　　Zhang Jianhua, dean of the School of Economics at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said: "The central region connects the east and the west, the south and the north, and is a region with strong growth potential. In recent years, the central region has made relatively obvious progress in advanced manufacturing, modern agriculture and all-round opening up, and is expected to become a new economic growth pole in the future."

The rise of the central region was included in the national strategy as early as 2006. In 2006, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Several Opinions on Promoting the Rise of the Central Region", which defined the central region as "three bases and one hub" - an important national grain production base, an energy and raw material base, a modern equipment manufacturing and high-tech industrial base, and a comprehensive transportation hub.

　　The "Plan for Promoting the Rise of the Central Region (2016-2025)" issued in 2016 clearly defines the new strategic positioning of the central region as "one center, four zones": namely, an important national advanced manufacturing center, a national key area for new urbanization, a national core area for modern agricultural development, a national demonstration area for ecological civilization construction, and an important support area for all-round opening up.

　　The "14th Five-Year Plan" outline emphasizes that the central region should focus on building important advanced manufacturing bases, improving independent innovation capabilities in key areas, building open highland in inland areas, and consolidating the ecological and green development pattern.

　　"These changes in positioning reflect the country's increasingly high requirements for innovation in the central region." Ye Qing, academic committee member of Pangu Think Tank and deputy director of the Hubei Provincial Bureau of Statistics, said that the central region is rich in resources, has developed transportation, and a good industrial foundation. Promoting high-quality development in the central region is of overall significance.

　　Build an important national advanced manufacturing base

　　The central region has a good industrial foundation and a complete range of industries, and has always been an important base for my country's manufacturing industry. The Opinions put forward the development direction of "six focuses" in the central region, the first of which is to focus on building a modern industrial system supported by advanced manufacturing.

It is reported that the new round of policies to support the rapid rise of the central region has made comprehensive arrangements to support the development of advanced manufacturing. It is necessary to build a modern industrial system supported by advanced manufacturing, expand and strengthen advanced manufacturing, and build a number of mid-to-high-end industrial clusters along the Yangtze River, Beijing-Guangzhou, Beijing-Kowloon, etc., such as the Zhengzhou electronic information industry cluster, the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan advanced equipment manufacturing industry cluster, and the Taiyuan new materials industry cluster. It is also necessary to build industrial bases such as intelligent manufacturing, new materials, new energy vehicles, and electronic information.

　　"If the central region wants to rise, it still depends on the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry." Wu Chuanqing, deputy director of the Institute of China Development Strategy and Planning of Wuhan University, said that many companies in the central region have industrial cooperation relationships. After the epidemic, they must plan how to reconstruct the industrial chain relationship and jointly build an influential advanced manufacturing cluster.

　　In Ye Qing's view, the central region has the conditions and advantages to build an important advanced manufacturing base. Taking Hunan as an example, from Changsha to Zhuzhou and then to Xiangtan, from Changsha Sany Heavy Industry and Zoomlion Heavy Industry to Zhuzhou Power Valley, we can feel the new achievements and changes made by Hunan in the high-quality development of manufacturing and emerging industries.

　　In addition, the new round of policies to support the accelerated rise of the central region also involves the integrated development of advanced manufacturing and modern service industries. Relevant measures include building a number of industrial Internet platforms, promoting application innovations in big data, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, etc. in the manufacturing field, and actively developing service-oriented manufacturing.

"Exploring the path of high-quality development of manufacturing services with central region characteristics is the only way to accelerate the high-quality rise of central China in the new development stage." Li Lin, director of the Regional Economic Research Center of Hunan University, believes that we should rely on the characteristics of central China, focus on accelerating the development of manufacturing services such as scientific and technological services and new generation information technology services, and promote the transformation of the manufacturing supply chain to the industrial service supply chain.

　　The Yangtze River Middle Reaches Urban Agglomeration and the Central Plains Urban Agglomeration are the two major fulcrums.

　　Urban agglomerations are an important support for regional economic development. An important part of the new round of policies to support the development of the central region is to promote the development of the urban agglomerations in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Central Plains, and to create important growth poles across the country. Support the construction of urban agglomerations such as Wuhan, Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan, Zhengzhou and Hefei.

Dong Dengxin, director of the Institute of Finance and Securities at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, said: "The rise of central China must give play to the leading role of central cities. The Yangtze River Middle Reaches Urban Agglomeration is centered on Wuhan, and the Central Plains Urban Agglomeration is centered on Zhengzhou. The two national central cities lead the coordinated development of the two urban agglomerations."

　　The Wuhan and Zhengzhou metropolitan areas have also been active recently. In early April this year, Henan issued the "Zhengzhou Metropolitan Area Transportation Integration Development Plan (2020-2035)", proposing the goal of "basically achieving one-hour commuting in the metropolitan area and two-hour access to the Central Plains urban agglomeration" by 2025.

　　The first meeting of the Wuhan City Circle Joint Conference on Urban Integration Development reviewed and approved the Three-Year Action Plan for Urban Integration Development, which clearly stated that the urban integration development in six areas of Wuhan City Circle should be promoted in a coordinated manner: infrastructure, industrial collaborative innovation, opening up to the outside world, public services, ecological and environmental protection, and factor markets.

　　The establishment of the highly anticipated National Carbon Trading Registration System (China Carbon Registration) in Hubei also provides opportunities for the development of the central region. Ye Qing said that the establishment of China Carbon Registration in Wuhan will further play the role of financial agglomeration, attracting funds, technology, green financial institutions and various financial elements to the Yangtze River Middle Reaches Urban Agglomeration. Using the carbon market as a bridge, we will open up the development channel of the central and western regions and realize the interconnection of the carbon market and other capital markets.