Spatial difference and mechanisms of influence of geo-economy in the border areas of China

doi:10.1007/s11442-017-1447-8

Abstract

Abstract:

Border areas are both important territorial security barriers and portals to the outside world. Considering the complicated geopolitical environment of China’s inland borders, analysis of the current status and mechanisms of influence of geo-economy in border areas is of great significance. Namely, this analysis is important towards leveraging traditional advantages to accelerate China’s development in border and minority areas. Based on a comprehensive analysis, our study constructed a framework to analyze the geo-economy in border areas, and also introduced three indexes: local economy, export-oriented economy and local development. In addition, our study systematically described geo-economic evolution in the border areas of China. We also analyzed the mechanism of geo-economic spatial differentiation in these border areas by using geographical detectors. Our results indicated that the level of geo-economic influence in border areas has grown steadily with significant spatial differentiation. The absolute geo-economic dominance of Northeast China gradually declines over time. Areas with geo-economic advantages are highly dispersed, showing a spatial polarization pattern with several polar nuclei including Mudanjiang city (Northeast China), Baotou city (Inner Mongolia), Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture (Xinjiang), Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture and the city of Chongzuo (Yunnan-Guangxi area). Geo-economics in border area is mainly influenced by national policies, the development level of neighboring countries, as well as the desire of these countries to cooperate with China in bilateral trade. Favorable policies, traffic, cultural proximity and other factors also impact the geo-economics of border areas significantly. The Inner Mongolia and Tibet areas are mainly influenced by neighboring countries, while Northeast China and Xinjiang are mainly affected by Chinese policies; the Yunnan-Guangxi area is influenced by a combination of these factors. At the end of the study, we provide our recommendations for developing policies that further geo-economic advantages in complex geopolitical environments and in areas with varied development.

Key words: border area, geo-economy, geopolitics, geography detector

Tao SONG, Yi CHENG, Weidong LIU, Hui LIU. Spatial difference and mechanisms of influence of geo-economy in the border areas of China[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2017, 27(12): 1463-1480.

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	Land (10⁴ km²)	Percentage of border areas (%)	Population (10⁴ people)	Percentage of border areas (%)	GDP (10⁸ yuan)	Percentage of border areas (%)
Border areas	382	100	7785	100	28,583	100
Nine border provinces	593.19	64.4	28,156	27.6	120,758	23.7
West China	687.97	55.5	36,839	21.1	138,099	20.7
All of China	963.43	39.7	136,782	5.7	643,974	4.4

System level	Index strata	Weight
Local economy (0.311)	Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (yuan)	0.082
	Local public revenue per capita (yuan)	0.073
	Investments for fixed asset (10⁸ yuan)	0.102
	Year-end balance in financial institutions (10⁸ yuan)	0.054
Export-oriented economy (0.405)	International trade (ten thousand dollars)	0.107
	Foreign trade dependence ratio (%)	0.111
	International tourism revenue (10⁴ dollars)	0.084
	Foreign capital reliance (%)	0.103
Local comprehensive development (0.284)	Employees (10⁴ people)	0.057
	Average wage (yuan)	0.042
	Total business volume of post and telecommunications (10⁸ yuan)	0.101
	Highway mileage percentage (km/km²)	0.084

Index	Explanation of the index	Data source	Influence of the index
State fragility index	Capacity of the country to resist international conflicts and violence	CSP	-
Cultural Similarity Index	Cultural similarity between the region and neighboring countries	Fifth and sixth national censuses	+
Bilateral Economic Integration Index	The degree of bilateral free trade between two countries	Value assignment	+
Neighboring country development strength	The comprehensive economic and foreign trade development levels of neighboring countries	World Bank	+
Market opportunities	Differences in economic development between the region and neighboring countries	World Bank	+
Favorable Policy Index	Level of support from national policies on regional development	Value assignment	+
Number of ports	The number of ports in the border area	China’s port-of-entry yearbook	+
Urbanization rate	Regional urbanization level	China Statistical Yearbook	+
Secondary and tertiary industry ratio	Level of off-farm economy in the region	China Statistical Yearbook	+
Transport accessibility	Level of accessibility of transportation in the region	Comprehensively calculated	+

	State fragility index	Cultural proximity	Bilateral economic integration level	Development strength of neighboring countries	Market opportunities	Preferential policy index	Number of ports of entry	Urbani- zation rate
2000	0.098	0.214	0.485	0.078	0.045	0.578	0.252	0.141
2005	0.046	0.261	0.526	0.080	0.068	0.523	0.145	0.235
2010	0.307	0.194	0.229	0.281	0.147	0.427	0.234	0.273
2014	0.112	0.282	0.264	0.094	0.294	0.650	0.213	0.196

	State Fragility Index	Cultural proximity	Bilateral economic integration level	Development of neighboring countries	Market opportunities	Favorable Policy Index	Number of ports of entry	Urbanization rate	Ratio of secondary to tertiary industry	Transportation accessibility
Inner Mongolia	0.484	0.420	0.346	0.489	0.326	0.073	0.163	0.378	0.360	0.132
Northeast China	0.201	0.255	0.398	0.301	0.181	0.640	0.302	0.304	0.249	0.393
Xinjiang	0.106	0.185	0.278	0.305	0.119	0.502	0.290	0.222	0.140	0.226
Tibet	0.085	0.100	0.756	0.934	0.314	0.083	0.112	0.097	0.111	0.111
Yunnan- Guangxi area	0.477	0.176	0.402	0.434	0.126	0.441	0.267	0.230	0.330	0.234