Chapter 1763

In this era, China's economic development has always proceeded within the framework of administrative divisions, with people "drawing circles on the ground to act as prisons," creating artificial barriers, and pursuing "large and comprehensive" results. For example, the vast majority of counties in China have the "five small industries"—small coal mines, small steel mills, small fertilizer plants, small cement plants, and small machinery plants—pursuing industrial self-sufficiency within a single county.

In the era of the planned economy, this development strategy played a certain role, but now, this framework sometimes has the opposite effect of hindering economic development.

For example, every county has the same enterprises, which inevitably leads to a lot of disorderly competition. Sometimes, for the sake of local protectionism, they even hinder the circulation of goods, which is of course detrimental to economic development. However, this concept is a very common phenomenon; basically, the leaders of every county think this way.

The concept of regional economic cooperation proposed by Su Xinghui is not something anyone else is suggesting right now. But when it reaches the ears of people like Yu Yan'an and Yu Kangzhan, they naturally see the benefits, and it can be said that their eyes lit up.

Su Xinghui's idea is too bold, yet too brilliant. The Tianyue Mountain Range Economic Cooperation Zone he envisions covers more than a dozen counties across three provinces. These counties have similar terrain and similar products, yet they also have complementary aspects, making them truly suitable for regional cooperation. His boldest move is breaking down administrative barriers, allowing counties across different provinces and cities to engage in economic cooperation and complementarity, thus avoiding disorderly competition and instead achieving mutual benefit. This is, of course, very favorable for economic development.

Changshan County and Wushui County are already cooperating a lot in economic development, and they have already tasted the benefits of doing so.