100 Most economically powerful counties in China (2004), Map

[naus888]

100 Most economically powerful counties in China (2004), as measured by

economic development, economic growth, standard of living, and

investment attraction. 县 = county/prefecture

In purple are the actual top 100 counties.

In green are the areas to which the counties belong to.

In yellow are the provinces to which the counties belong to.

General trend: major dialect regions (particularly Wu which is covered with purple counties and Cantonese)

fare better than Mandarin regions.

47 out of the top 100 and 17 out of the top 20 counties are concentrated in

the lower Yangtse delta region and speak Wu dialects. Total population of the

economic region (including counties not on the list): 78 million. Key city: Shanghai.

15 out of the top 100 are concentrated in the Pearl River delta and generally

speak Cantonese. Total population of the economic region (including

counties not on the list): 45 million. Key city: Guangzhou.

22 out of the top 100 are in the Bohai Rim region (speaks Mandarin), which is

actually three separate economic regions (Beijing-Tianjin, Liaoning, and

Shandong) combined. Total population of the Bohai Rim region (including

counties not on the list): 260 million. Key city: Beijing.

100 Most economically powerful counties in China (2004):

Zoomed in:

[Zingaro]

Interesting data, thanks for posting it.

I don't know if the dialect trend is really all that valid or important. Shanghai was designated a SEZ largely because (a) its history of interaction with the West and its Western business establishments and (B) its proximity to shipping facilities. Shenzhen was created out of nothing and designated as a SEZ because (a) its proximity to Hong Kong which was already a transition/commerce zone with the West and (B) its harbor and shipping facilities.

Economic power grows from the SEZs, and also from government power centers such as Beijing. And while Guangzhou is the key city in Guangdong province, the territory from Guangzhou and Shenzhen, including both those cities, is dotted with factories of all kinds. Management of those factories resides in Guanzhou and also in Shenzhen.

I think the dialect trends are really more coincidence than anything else.

[naus888]

Northern regions have SEZs too! Most created about the same time as

the Shanghai SEZ.

And it's not just Shanghai.

Much of Zhejiang's growth in the past 20 years is independent of Shanghai,

and independent of government policies. An SEZ was created in Shanghai

only in 1992, more than a decade later than the Shenzhen/Guangzhou/Fujian region.

Of course after Shanghai became an SEZ, Zhejiang received a further

boost. But the Shanghai SEZ is limited to Pudong, which is still not the

number one source of growth for Shanghai. Anyone who knows Shanghai's

tax responsibilities, also know that the SEZ in Shanghai is mostly just

permission to do business and little else. Also an SEZ was created in

Beijing at the same time as the Shanghai one, in 1992. People tend to

think that Shanghai has been getting a lot of special treatment when it

really hasn't compared to some of the other large cities.

Also, southern Jiangsu has traditionally been the wealthiest region in China,

even before western influence. The top 10 most economically strong

counties are from southern Jiangsu.

The point I was making was that SEZs in the dialect regions were

able to catalyze much greater growth in surrounding areas than the SEZs in northern

Mandarin speaking regions, where the growth does not seem to trickle

down to the smaller cities and towns.

[Cyberian]

Can someone please tranlate the top 10 into pinyin for me?

Just to be solid, purple means modern and rich?

[Quest]

None of the 100 listed is a major city. They are all surrounding towns and small cities.