In the year when the 14th Five-Year Plan ends and the planning and layout of the 15th Five-Year Plan, in order to keep pace with the times, and to solidly promote high-quality economic development, the "2025 Annual Meeting on Deeply Studying and Practicing the Interpretation of Xi Jinping's Economic Thoughts" sponsored by the National Development and Reform Commission was held in Beijing from July 29 to 30.

The meeting invited well-known experts from the Central Party School, Academy of Social Sciences, universities and other fields to focus on the scientific system and theoretical innovation of Xi Jinping's economic thoughts, promote regional coordinated development, enhance regional development vitality, promote Chinese-style modernization and world modernization with high-quality construction of the "Belt and Road" and deepen exchanges of experience in the field of economic development, and promote common development and prosperity of all countries, and discuss and exchange the latest achievements in promoting the chemistry, physics and chemistry of Xi Jinping's economic thought system.

Recently, a special seminar on "Promoting regional coordinated development and enhancing regional development vitality" was held in the 2025 Annual Meeting on Deeply Studying and Practicing Xi Jinping's Economic Thought. Wei Houkai, member of the academician department of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Rural Development Institute, said that we should take Xi Jinping's economic thoughts as the guide, accelerate the construction of a new regional economics with Chinese characteristics, highlight the following objective laws, reflecting Chinese characteristics, and establishing a global concept.

China's regional economy has typical characteristics rooted in its own national conditions. China's development stage, institutional and mechanism background and national conditions determine that China's regional economy has both a side that conforms to the general laws of the regional economy and a special side. Therefore, China's regional economics is a new regional economics targeting major developing countries and socialist market economies. Wei Houkai believes that China's regional economics has three major characteristics:

First, follow objective laws. The primary task is to reveal and explain the objective laws of regional economic development and the evolution of inter-regional economic relations. Western regional economics should be reasonably abandoned rather than completely deny them. The basic principles and methods that conform to regional economic development trends and reflect objective laws should be fully absorbed.

The second is to reflect Chinese characteristics. China's institutional and national conditions determine that regional economic development and inter-regional relations coordination must highlight Chinese characteristics, adhere to the Chinese path, and tell the Chinese economic story well.

The third is to establish a global concept. The implicit land space of China's regional economy includes both land and ocean; both cities and villages, which is a concept of land space across the region.

Wei Houkai believes that accelerating the construction of China's independent regional economic theory system should include five aspects:

First, we will take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as our guide. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important statements on regional coordinated development are an important part of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. They profoundly reveal the evolution laws of regional economy, clarify the theoretical basis, goals and principles, overall ideas, strategic layout, implementation path, coordination mechanism and policy measures of regional coordinated development, and innovatively put forward new views, new conclusions and new ideas such as promoting relative balance in development. Therefore, accelerating the construction of an independent knowledge system must be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

On August 3, 2025, tourists visited the Confucius Temple Scenic Area in Nanjing. Tourists may take a boat tour, stop to watch, taste delicious food, or select special products, immersively experience the unique charm of Jiangnan water towns and ignite the city's "night economy". (Photo by Fang Dongxu/Photo by Guangming)

The second is to conduct in-depth research and reveal the general laws of regional economy. The development of regional economy and the evolution of inter-regional economic relations have their own laws, such as the laws of the relationship between development balance and imbalance, the laws of population and industrial agglomeration, the laws of urban and rural evolution, and the laws of urban and rural development. Deeply revealing and scientifically grasping this regularity is the core task of regional economic research and the basic principle of regional economic construction practice.

The third is to comprehensively study and elaborate on the Chinese path of regional economic development. China's regional economic development has undergone a major strategic transformation from balanced development to unbalanced development and then to coordinated development. It has been exploring for about 70 years and has now entered a new stage of high-quality development. The concept of high-quality development has been introduced into regional coordinated development, forming a path of high-quality and coordinated regional development that conforms to China's national conditions, and we must continue to move forward along this path.

Fourth, provide theoretical explanations of China's regional economic phenomena and models. The practice of reform and opening up has formed many new phenomena and new characteristics with Chinese characteristics. These issues need to be theoretically explained and refined, elevated to the theory of Chinese regional economics, and formed an independent knowledge system.

On August 4, 2025, villagers transported the newly harvested marigolds in Santaipu Village, Lingquan Street, Kaiyuan City, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. In recent years, Lingquan Street, Kaiyuan City, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, has fully utilized its own resource advantages and actively developed marigold planting in the Xishan area, with an area of 14,000 mu and an output value of more than 25 million yuan, effectively promoting local people to increase their income and become rich. (Photo by Zhang Hongke/Photo by Guangming)

Fifth, explore the impact of new technologies and new trends on regional economy, especially artificial intelligence, and the impact of a new round of information revolution and scientific and technological revolution on regional economy. Some new regional economic phenomena, new models, new business forms that have emerged should be studied.

"If we want to promote high-quality development and form a regional economic layout and land space system with complementary advantages and high-quality development, we need to cultivate and form a power source system for high-quality development." Wei Houkai said that from a hierarchy, whether at the national level or at the four major regions, provinces, cities and other regional levels, it is necessary to cultivate and form corresponding high-quality development sources. These power sources are important carriers for promoting high-quality development in the country or region; from a regional perspective, whether located in the eastern region or in the central and western regions and northeastern regions, all regions must start from their own reality and cultivate and form several important power sources to drive high-quality development; from a type perspective, each region has different properties and characteristics due to different development stages, functional positioning and regional characteristics, and presents different types. The organic connection and superimposition of power sources at different levels, regions and types is naturally formed to support the high-quality development of China's economy.

Wei Houkai believes that there are three focus points for accelerating the construction of a power source system for high-quality development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period:

First, build a modern central city and metropolitan area. Promoting the formation of a urban system with coordinated development of large, medium and small cities and towns is an important support for building a power source system for high-quality development.

The second is to promote the formation of a modern urban agglomeration system. As a high-level stage of urban agglomeration development, urban agglomerations are not only the core growth pole that supports China's economic growth, but also the main carrier for absorbing new urban populations in the future, and are also an important driving force for driving China's high-quality economic development.

The third is to optimize the spatial layout of new quality productivity. In the new development stage, giving full play to the leading role of new quality productivity and using new quality productivity to lead high-quality coordinated development in the region is not only an inherent requirement of Chinese-style modernization, but also a strategic measure to achieve common prosperity for all people.

Planning: Zhao Gang

Text sorting/poster production: Zhang Shiqi