Shanghai Yangtze delta has economy as big as India, with 1/20 of population

[master_13]

• To truly grasp the emergence of China, one approach is to look at the impressive economic footprint made by the country’s cities.
• Dozens of Chinese cities that most people in Western countries have never heard of – yet they each hold millions of people and have an economic output comparable to nations.
• It’s also important to remember that these cities don’t exist in isolation, and are instead cogs in the wheels of larger megaregions.

Gaining perspective on China’s monstrous economy isn’t always the easiest thing to do.

With 1.4 billion people and the third-largest geographical area, the country is a vast place to begin with. Add in explosive economic growth, a market-oriented but Communist government, a longstanding and complex cultural history, and self-inflicted demographic challenges – and understanding China can be even more of a puzzle.

CITY BY CITY
To truly grasp the emergence of China, one approach is to look at the impressive economic footprint made by the country’s cities.


Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist
Of course, cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong are the metro economic powerhouses that most people are familiar with. But have you heard of cities like Shijiazhuang, Wuxi, Changsha, Suzhou, Ningbo, Foshan, or Yantai?

There are literally dozens of Chinese cities that most people in Western countries have never heard of – yet they each hold millions of people and have an economic output comparable to nations.

Here’s a list of 31 of them, the size of their local economy, and a comparably sized national economy:

Visual Capitalist





MEGAREGIONS
It’s also important to remember that these cities don’t exist in isolation, and are instead cogs in the wheels of larger megaregions. Such areas would be comparable to the Northeast U.S., in which New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. are all hours apart and remain largely integrated as a regional economy.

In China, there are three main megaregions worth noting:

Yangtze River Delta
With a combined GDP of $2.17 trillion, which is comparable to India, the Yangtze River Delta contains cities like Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Ningbo, and Changzhou.

Pearl River Delta
With a combined GDP of $1.89 trillion, which is comparable to Italy, the Pearl River Delta has cities like Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, and Macao.

Beijing-Tianjin
With a combined GDP of $1.14 trillion, which is comparable to Australia, this megaregion holds the two largest cities in northern China, Beijing and Tianjin. The two cities are a 30-minute bullet train ride apart.

 

[21stCentury]

China's economic growth is only just taking off. The foundation has been laid.

As of now, China still a developing country, but the potential is absolutely phenomenal.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

China's economic growth is only just taking off. The foundation has been laid.

As of now, China still a developing country, but the potential is absolutely phenomenal.

Exactly. What we have now is just the foundation, it's what we build on this foundation what will matter the most.

Thankfully we have a good leadership right now, who will be able to build a real future for our nation.

 

[TaiShang]

Exactly. What we have now is just the foundation, it's what we build on this foundation what will matter the most.

Thankfully we have a good leadership right now, who will be able to build a real future for our nation.

Yes, the leadership is very important especially in these critical times of foundation-building. If it is not set up in the right way, with right and long-term vision, then, the growth on top of a weak foundation will be arbitrary, fragile and unsustainable.

In fact, we have such a case at hand, going on right next door; hence, we can use it as a laboratory not to make similar mistakes.

East Asian development state practice has shown in many cases that a visionary state is the key for the next generations to reap the benefits. If the governments takes the easy, popular, less painful and short term route, then, it will be the following generations that will suffer.

 

[faithfulguy]

By this measurement, than California has 2.44 T economy with a population just shy of 40 million people. It's less than 1/30 of the Indian population. But it's GDP IS 110% of India's GDP. To be fair, some of the best and brightest Indians live in California and contributes to its GDP. Maybe India can count half of California 's GDP toward Indian GDP.

 

[Cybernetics]

A reason for China's sustained rapid growth is the focus on developing and upgrading industry. A complete and advanced industry is the backbone of a strong and independent nation.

There were politicians of some countries saying they could leapfrog into advanced nations through development of service sector and bypass industrial development because they see large advanced nations like US and Germany having a 70-80% service industry. To me its a very superficial understanding of the economic dynamic. What they don't realise is that to support an advanced service sector you need something to service (you can't service nothing), and that something is industrial products like computers, machinery, medical equipment, etc. Despite advanced nations having low industry percentage, they still have a very substantial and advanced industrial sector.

Countries that attempt to leapfrog into service industry will certainly have an easier time starting off if the conditions are right. They can sell trade-able services to advanced economies and it has a much lower capex compared to building infrastructure for industry. Due to industry being the most difficult and the longest to develop, starting from services then to industry will take much longer overall, thus rendering it very difficult to vertically integrate which limits economic potential. Its easier for an IC industry to develop its own IT than IT to develop IC.

Industry directs the economy, services are a supporting function to make our lives more enjoyable. Without an advanced industry, a big service sector is just empty GDP. Services won't take humanity to space, services don't make computers, services don't provide electricity, services don't make transportation, services won't make a strong military, services won't make medical equipment to heal people, services don't provide tractors and fertiliser to feed people. Anything physical that we enjoy comes from industry. Only with an strong and advanced industry can China enjoy continued growth and improve the lives of its people.

It is no surprise that the most economically developed parts of China are also places with the most advanced and competitive industry.

 

[BetterPakistan]

I am desperate to see those moronic Indians response whom were saying that Mahrashtra GDP is 10-20% less only than Pakistan.

Now do they have any answer to the question raised above?

 

[Mista]

Misleading article. It's using China's PPP figures to compare with other countries' nominal figures.

What's the point of comparing the population of Yantai and Iraq in the 2nd chart, 6m vs 37m? To flaunt GDP per capita? If we use PPP for both, China's per capita PPP is actually lower than Iraq's in 2016.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

 

[master_13]

Misleading article. It's using China's PPP figures to compare with other countries' nominal figures.

What's the point of comparing the population of Yantai and Iraq in the 2nd chart, 6m vs 37m? To flaunt GDP per capita? If we use PPP for both, China's per capita PPP is actually lower than Iraq's in 2016.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

where in the article is it even mentioning per capita? Or are you want divert topic?

 

[Mista]

where in the article is it even mentioning per capita? Or are you want divert topic?

So why insert in the population figures for Yantai and Iraq? It's obvious the article is trying to imply the impressiveness of Yantai having the same GDP as Iraq even though it has a much smaller population, isn't it?

What do you mean by diverting the topic?

 

[TurkeyForever]

Chinese propaganda

 

[TaiShang]

Industry directs the economy, services are a supporting function to make our lives more enjoyable. Without an advanced industry, a big service sector is just empty GDP. Services won't take humanity to space, services don't make computers, services don't provide electricity, services don't make transportation, services won't make a strong military, services won't make medical equipment to heal people, services don't provide tractors and fertiliser to feed people. Anything physical that we enjoy comes from industry. Only with an strong and advanced industry can China enjoy continued growth and improve the lives of its people.

This tells a lot about a certain SP12. Perhaps the most telling part is the question of political will. Which government would like to initiate a long term beneficial but short term very unpopular policy of (heavy) industrialization, which brings in, in the short to medium term, pollution, lower wages, difficult management questions, logistics build up, laws and regulations updates etc? Quite difficult especially if that government does not own colonies to exploit (European and US advantage) or stable and long-vision governments with no concern regarding next elections four-five years down the line.

Regular people cannot uniformly have a long vision. Hence, they will chose what is presently optimum without regard to long term implications. Hence, when given the chance, they will chose the political figure who makes the right, short term promise. The one who promises long term policies will lose.

Hence, in a country of populist, corrupt and inefficient short-vision politics, services-based economy without any meaningful industrial basis will become the norm. This explains SP12.

 

[gayMo]

Wow.that shows population does not mean bigger economy