Pearl delta lags behind Yangtze, study finds
The Yangtze River Delta region has surpassed its Pearl River Delta counterpart in all economic indices and has larger growth potential, especially in a world of increasing global trade friction, according to a four-year study by the University of Hong Kong and Shanghai's Fudan University.
The study, published in book form as Return to the Economic Centre Stage - Research on the Yangtze River Delta's Integration and Transformation, is based on interviews conducted by researchers from both universities with managers from 2,400 enterprises across 29 industries in 16 cities in the Yangtze River Delta. Co-author Tao Zhigang , associate dean of business and economics at the University of Hong Kong, said the researchers were keen to explore a major mainland economic engine and build on a similar investigation of the Pearl River Delta.
Professor Tao said one of the differences between the two regions was the markets that they targeted. Pan-Pearl enterprises are more export-oriented while Yangtze companies focus mostly on the domestic market.
He said this difference would affect the two regions' future development.
'Since there are more and more trade conflicts between China and other countries, domestic demand becomes more important,' Professor Tao said.
'So the [Yangtze region] has the greater potential for development growth unless the [Pearl area] changes its industry structure dramatically.'
Professor Tao said that compared with the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta had a wider variety of industries, relying not just on traditional manufacturing plants but also on hi-tech industry.
The book is due to be launched on Sunday. The professor declined to reveal before then in which economic indices the Yangtze region outperformed its counterpart.
But the book does say that Shanghai lags far behind as an international financial hub and that there was a huge gap between investor expectations and the city's performance.
The researchers found that Shanghai's finance and insurance systems were the last considerations for companies planning to invest in the city. Companies were motivated instead by its power to influence the rest of the mainland market and the rich business network.
Many managers canvassed said Shanghai had a poor international outlook and the municipal government sometimes did not follow regulations.
According to the study, the Yangtze River Delta's industrial distribution was not ideal, and manufacturing still accounted for a bigger share of Shanghai's economic output than service industries.
Professor Tao said this was due to local protectionism and local government determination to retain industries paying high taxes and enjoying high profit margins.
