A bird's eye view of Chengdu's downtown area. The core urban area accounts for half of the city's economic size. Provided to China Daily

Function divisions among counties, districts foster healthy competition

In October 2012, the Chengdu municipal government issued a comprehensive plan to better integrate the core urban area with its vast outer layer areas, a landmark step toward the city's full integration.

Unknown to most outsiders, the pan-Chengdu metropolis comprises more than 20 administrative units, and has an area of 12,400 square kilometers, equivalent to 10 New York Cities.

But the outer-layer areas are far more underdeveloped than the core urban area.

In 2011, the GDP of Jinniu district, the largest economy in the pan-Chengdu metropolis, was eight and a half times of that of the county with the smallest economic size. The core urban area, which accounts for only 4 percent of Chengdu's, accounts for half of the area's economic size. The counties within the third layer of the area account for 70 percent of the land but produce less than 17 percent of the GDP.

In Chengdu government's development outline, the swath of districts and counties within the pan-Chengdu area is compared to a flight of wild geese. Like geese, the six districts in the core urban area, like the head geese, should fly higher in the sky; the six districts or counties in the second layer of the area should compete with each other; and the eight cities and counties in the third layer should see leapfrogging development.

A major feature of the "full integration strategy" is that the Chengdu government clearly planned every economic function of the districts.

For example, western Chengdu is designed to develop high-tech and emerging industries, while the eastern section of Chengdu is designed to focus on high-end manufacturing such as the automobile industry.

The core urban area should gradually exit manufacturing and accelerate the growth of modern service industries. The second layer should strengthen its manufacturing and cultivate corresponding service industries. The third layer should develop its manufacturing and optimize its agriculture and tourism industries.

To avert vicious competition among districts, the Chengdu government stipulated that district that attract enterprises that are not in line with its function will be punished, while those that introduce enterprises they get to other, more suitable districts can enjoy a portion of the revenue the enterprises produce there.