The economic development of the six provinces is obviously differentiated.

In the eight years from 2010 to 2018, the total GDP growth of the six central provinces increased by 125%, slightly lower than the national growth of 126% in the same period. A Symposium on promoting the rise of the central region was held recently in Changsha, Jiangxi Province. The meeting stressed that at present, the rising momentum of the central region is vigorous, and there is great potential for the development of the central region. It is important to keep abreast of the requirements of high-quality development, seize the momentum and do solid work to promote the rise of the central region to a new level.

The central region includes six provinces, Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan, which play an important role in China's economic territory. According to the statistics of the first financial journalist, in 2018, the total GDP of the six provinces in the central region reached 19.26 trillion yuan, accounting for 21.4% of the country; the total population reached 370 million, accounting for 26.6% of the country. In addition, in 2018, the economic growth of Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei and Hunan provinces along the Yangtze River ranked among the top 10 in China.

Ye Qing, a professor at Central South University of Finance, Economics and Law, told First Financial Journalist that compared with the western region, the natural development conditions, especially the ecological conditions, in the central region are much better and the plain area is much larger. Compared with the eastern region, the central region has obvious advantages in land cost and abundant labor force. Therefore, the rise of the central region will play an important supporting role in China's economic development in the future.

North-South differentiation is obvious

Although the central region has developed rapidly in recent years, if the time is extended to a longer dimension, its overall economic growth rate can only be said to be equal to or even slightly lower than that of the whole country. According to the statistics of the First Financial Journalist, in the eight years from 2010 to 2018, the GDP growth of the six central provinces increased by 125%, slightly lower than the national growth of 126% in the same period. From the perspective of sub-provinces, the differentiation among the six provinces is more obvious. Among them, the total economic growth of Hubei and Anhui provinces in the past eight years exceeded 140%, which were 149% and 144.69% respectively, that of Jiangxi reached 133%, and that of Hunan reached 129%. The growth rates of these four provinces exceeded the national average. By contrast, Shanxi's total economic growth in 8 years was only 85%, 41 percentage points lower than the national level, and Henan's was 109.46%, 15.5 percentage points lower than the national average. In the central region, the North-South differentiation is also very obvious. The four provinces along the Yangtze River are much faster than those in Henan and Shanxi, which are located in the northern region.

According to Ye Qing, the development of Shanxi in recent years is indeed restricted by the ecological conditions. In terms of industrial structure, Shanxi is dominated by energy heavy industry. Since 2013, macroeconomic growth has slowed down, and the prices of energy and raw materials have also declined. Economic development has also been affected. Henan's energy heavy industry is also many, in addition, Henan's leading industry supporting role is relatively limited, the development of high-tech industry is lagging behind.

The four provinces along the Yangtze River in central China have fewer and lower energy heavy industries, and are less affected by the downturn of energy economy in recent years. On the other hand, the four provinces along the Yangtze River are adjacent to the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. In recent years, a large number of industrial transfers have taken place in these two regions. With the advantages of water resources, labor and other aspects, the economy has also developed rapidly. Taking Anhui as an example, participating in industrial division and cooperation in the Yangtze River Delta is crucial to Anhui's economic development. According to the data of Anhui Provincial Co-operation Office, in the first quarter of this year, 1245 projects were invested by Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces with more than 100 million yuan, and the actual capital in place was 1145.5 billion yuan, an increase of 14.6% over the same period of last year, accounting for 48.1% of the whole province and an increase of 3.4 percentage points over the same period of last year. Lin Fei, a researcher at the Economic Research Institute of Anhui Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed the first financial and economic journalist. In recent years, in the process of building a world-class urban agglomeration with global influence in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, Anhui has deeply participated in the division of labor and cooperation in the development of the Yangtze River Delta, which has played an obvious role in driving the economy of Anhui. It is similar in Hunan Province. The connection between Hunan and the Pearl River Delta has been very close. With the opening of the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway, the distance between Hunan and the Pearl River Delta has been greatly shortened. Hunan has become the first choice of many industrial transfer layout in the Pearl River Delta. Hunan's industry and regional economy have developed rapidly. More provinces need to speed up urbanization.

From the perspective of measuring the level of economic development per capita GDP, Hubei is the leader in all provinces. In 2018, the per capita GDP of Hubei reached 66,531 yuan, exceeding the national average of 64,644 yuan, and it is the only province in the six provinces of central China whose per capita GDP exceeds the national average level.

In addition, the GDP per capita of other central provinces in 2018 is lower than 60,000 yuan. Among them, Anhui, Jiangxi and Shanxi are all less than 50,000 yuan. The per capita GDP level of Hubei Province is relatively high, mainly due to its high level of industrialization and urbanization. According to the data, in 2018, the urbanization rate of Hubei reached 60.3%, which is the only province in the six central provinces that exceeded 60% and the only one that exceeded the national average. In contrast, the urbanization rate of the other five provinces is lower than the national average, and Henan, the province with the largest household registration population, is only 51.71%.

Ye Qing said that in the era of planned economy, Wuhan is an important industrial center, ranking first among the major cities in the country in terms of comprehensive strength, and has a relatively large distribution of heavy industries. In addition, as the central city of the region, Wuhan ranks first in science and education strength. In recent years, in the process of industrial transformation and upgrading, the positioning of the central metropolis and the role of science and education resources in promoting economic development are very obvious.

According to the data, in 2017, the number of high-tech enterprises in Hubei reached 5,177, which is the only province in the six central provinces with more than 5,000 enterprises, ranking sixth in the country. In 2018, the number of Postgraduates in Hubei reached 148,000, which was in the middle school.