Administrative Decentralization Competition Between Two Counties And Cross-border Regional Governance

Since China’s reform and opening up, Chinese government has vigorously undertaken the administrative decentralization reform focusing on "delegating powers and benefits "to adapt to the economic system reform guided by the needs of the market and effectively stimulate and release the vigor of local government in economic construction. Under the background of localized management and administrative decentralization reform, configuration mode of powers of all government administrative levels and relations between governments of the same level have deeply changed. The changes enable the local governments at various levels to become not only relatively independent interest parties and the main forces to promote the development of local economy, but also competitors for their respective jurisdictions’interests which brings troubles in regional public affairs handling between adjacent districts and seriously impedes the development of regional economy.Considering the rising cross-border public affairs governance dilemma, this study analyzes the typical cases of cross-border public affairs governance dilemma in Pingyang and Cangnan county of Wenzhou city, Zhejiang province from the perspectives of localized management and local government competition. It reveals the reasons, dilemmas and influences of cross-border public affairs governance issues on the basis of thorough analysis of administrative regional economy, short supply of regional public goods, many problems in regional city cluster development and poor administrative performance in Aojiang river basin. From the perspective of cross-border regional governance theory, cross-border regional governance solution mechanism is put forward which brings forces of neighboring local governments, society and market together.The study shows that although cross-border governance dilemmas of public affairs are mainly caused by the localized management and competition between adjacent administrative districts, it is not enough to rely on cooperation between local governments or co-management led by government, but more effective to solve problems in the framework of cross-border regional governance. Cross-border regional governance is a kind of collaborative governance framework bringing together local governments, enterprises, social organizations and individual citizens, which contains the governance of all levels and benign interaction between governments, market and social forces. On the basis of empirical research to the typical case,this study argues that to establish the vertical and horizontal communication and cooperation mechanism among local governments and cross-sectors regional cooperative governance mechanism by the aid of cooperative management of local governments, enterprises, social organizations and individual citizens, is the basic way to eliminate cross-border public affairs governance dilemma caused by the localized management and competition between adjacent administrative districts.