The Research Of Foreign Trade And Reglonal Economic Growth In The Three Prvinces In Northeast China

Wei Houkai, a Chinese famous regional economist, considers that regional economy is amiddle and unbalanced economy with its own characteristics. It is a“mesoeconomics”between macroeconomics and microeconomics. So any regional economic growth shouldrealize the regional economic growth, the upgrading of industrial structure, and the growth ofsocial welfare as a primary goal. That is, first of all, the pace of the regional economicdevelopment should consist with the nation’s economic development plans. Balance theinterests of the state, while pay attention to the realization of regional interests; second,through the adjustment and management in local industrial structure, making efforts toachieve the regional industrial structure optimization; finally, actively seek the social welfaregrowth, and at the same time, fully satisfy the growing material and cultural needs of arearesidents .According to the conception of "two overall situations" from Deng Xiaoping about thedomestic regional economic development，the Chinese government startted the economicreform in the three Northeast provinces, which in favour of forming the developedpattern—“linking the east and the west, matching the south and the north”in China. Thereport of Chinese Communist Party’s Sixteenth National Congress clearly proposed theMacroeconomic developing strategy—“supporting Northeast and other old industrial bases tospeed up the adjustment and innovation.”Therefore, according to the national deployment,the three provinces in Northeast China should put the internal and external opening asimportant ways to rejuvenate the regional economy: achieve the economic rejuvenation goalsinternally and promot foreign trade externally.Foreign trade plays an important role in the development of regional economy in thecondition of opening. However, the role of foreign trade is different in the regional economicdevelopment due to the unbalanced economic development. So this paper puts theinternational trade theory and the regional economic theory as basic theories, studies therelationship between foreign trade and economic growth in the three provinces in NortheastChina, and discusses the relationship and mechanism of action in foreign trade and regionaleconomic growth、regional industrial structure optimization、regional employment through theregional economic development process. Finally, based on the actual situation, it makessuggestions to promote the development of foreign trade in the three Northeast provinces.The first chapter is an introduction. First, it describes the research background. Then, itdemonstrates the meaning and research methods of the paper. Finally, it analyses the currentstatus of research and gives comments and classification to this situation, based onsummarizing current researches at home and abroad systematically.Chapter Two introduces basic concepts and theories in this paper, which involveseconomic growth theory、international trade theory、the interaction theory between foreigntrade and economic growth. The chapter proposes research ideas, which are based on the summarization and recognition to the related theories and previous research results, andprepares for the analysis in the following chapters. Specifically, the survey of the relationshipbetween foreign trade and regional economic growth is divided into three parts, the first partis the relationship between foreign trade and regional economic growth; the second part is therelationship between foreign trade and regional industrial structure; the third is therelationship between foreign trade and regional employment.Chapter Three researched the relevence between foreign trade and regional ecnomicgrowth in the three provinces in Northeast China, through the combination of the theoreticaland empirical studies. It also analyzes a series of quantitative indicators and related timeseries and revealed that the internal mechanism between foreign trade and regional ecnomicvolume in the three provinces in Northeast China. It clearly shows that foreign trade plays arole in regional economic growth in the three provinces in Northeast China.Chapter Four researched the relevence between foreign trade and regional industrialstructure in the three provinces in Northeast China, through the combination of the theoreticaland empirical studies. By the analyses to a series of quantitative indicators and related timeseries, the paper reveals that the internal mechanism between foreign trade and regionalindustrial structure optimization in the three provinces in Northeast China. It clearly showsthat the development of foreign trade plays a role in the changing process of regionalindustrial structure in the three provinces in Northeast China.Chapter Five researched the relevence between foreign trade and regional employment inthe three provinces in Northeast China, through the combination of the theoretical andempirical studies. Through the analyses to a series of quantitative indicators and related timeseries, revealed that the internal mechanism between foreign trade and regional employmentin the three provinces in Northeast China. It clearly shows that foreign trade plays a role inregional employment in the three provinces in Northeast China.Based on the regional economic reality in the three provinces in Northeast China,Chapter Six uses Main Computational Economics research methods, establishes amicroscopic simulation model and makes coupling association for empirical research toforeign trade and regional economic growth, industrial structure optimization and theemployment in the three Northeast provinces. In view of the macroeconomic analysis shallestablish in microeconomics related theory basis, this paper through mutual games amongeconomic subjects at all levels, and between subjects and government, eventually simulate theobjective economic reality.In Chapter Seven, the spatial pattern of foreign trade in the three provinces in NortheastChina is first commented and analyzed, and then bases on the analysis of the data that wasderived from the statistical yearbooks released by the three provinces, a conclusion is drawnthat the export of labor-intensive products and the import of technology-intensive productscombine to account for the fact that the major trade partners of the three provinces are USA,Japan and Europe. Some leading factors that influence the development of foreign trade in theNortheast are also examined. Accordingly, measures are proposed, which involve graduallyconstructing export base in the Northeast, continually promoting the optimization of foreign trade of the Northeast, and strengthening the ties with neighboring economies, those majorones in northeast Asia in particular, in combating the international financial crisis.Chapter Eight is devoted to the discussion of regulation mechanism and suggestions. Asthe concluding part, this chapter first proposes a strategic vision of establishing a unifiedregulation institution for the three provinces, whose job, of great significance, is expected toinvolve planning as a whole some major influential projects in that region, and unifying thethree provinces as a regional one to assume a uniform stance and participate in internationallabor division and cooperation. The unified regulation institution is designed to boost thecommon development of the three provinces through“overall planning, resource sharing,cooperating and competing, complementing each other’s advantages”. Besides, suggestionsthat regards to the well-coordinated development of the foreign trade in the three provincesand regional economies, industrial structure and employment are put forward as well.