China's Regional Economic Development, Local Government Relations

Economic globalization and regional economic integration are two major tendencies in current worldwide economic development. With the enforcement of reforming and open policy, especially after joining WTO, our country faces the influence of worldwide economic integration outside China, deepening of reformation and open policy and preliminary establishment of market economy inside China, which both urges our country's market economy and the regional economic integration to present new characters. Since 1990's, with the reformation of the economic system, central government released partial authorities to local governments, which further increased local governments' economic independency and autonomy. Following the above situation is competition among local governments while chasing for local economic maximization. In the more and more in tensing competition among local governments, all sorts of relationship forms, conflict and problem appear. To coordinate relationship, searching for governing pattern becomes effective methods in solving the problem. The academic circle has given much attention regarding relationship among local governments, but landscape orientation research is still rare. In regional economic development, benefit is the key factor. On the basis of benefit, this article analyzes two major present situations (competition and cooperation) and the existing problem under the influence of regional benefit, and proposed that the effective method in solving the problem is forming cooperation mechanism among local governments. Being a kind of new governing mechanism in contemporary western developed countries in the field of public administration, network organization is the third kind of government mechanism situated between marketing and layered organizations which lowered transaction expenses and reduced marketing risk. The present era is a network one, the advantage of the network organization appears very clear and is especially suitable to landscape orientation relationship among local governments on the basis of long-term cooperation. Forming network pattern among local governments is essential in accordance with the request of present era. The developing tendency of relationship among local governments in China is flat cooperation.