On the Research of Large City Clusters of China

In the reform era,large city clusters have formed as a result of expedited urbanization in China.This paper first identifies the problems in existing city cluster researches, and then puts forward a definition of large city clusters based on metropolitan areas and five indicators.Using data collected in China's fifth census in 2000,the paper defines 13 large city clusters with population of at least 10 millions,higher urbanization rate,and at least two large metropolitan areas.Among the identified city clusters,the population size of both Yangtze Delta large city cluster and Pearl Delta large city cluster exceed 50 million respectively.The paper also analyzes the leading roles of large city clusters in the national and regional development.At the national level,large city clusters are important engines of growth for the Chinese economy.In 2009,the combined GDP of the thirteen large city clusters amounted to RMB 20.3 trillion,or 59.63%of national GDP,highlighting the further intensification of economic concentration.In particular, three large city clusters,namely Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan,Yangtze Delta and Pearl Delta,have become centers of corporate regional headquarters,RD bases for multinational corporations,and headquarter centers for the top 500 Chinese manufacturing enterprises. At the regional level,the paper measures the economic concentration index of 13 large city clusters in terms of the large city clusters' share of regional GDP,and analyzes their changes.At the end,the paper points out the necessity for the government to launch a research on defining large city clusters so as to promote the process of urbanization of China while academic discussions can focus on the agglomeration and dispersion of large city cluster.