Study On Spatial Difference Of County Economy Development Level In Hunan Province

County economy is the important foundation and backbone of the national economy of an area. Under the background of improving the balance between urban and rural development, the research in the spatial differences in the development level of county economy in Hunan Province has very important theoretical and practical significance for overcoming the obstacles to the relative spatial balance and promoting the coordinated and healthy development of the provincial economy.The economy of Hunan Province has developed rapidly in recent years. GDP of Hunan Province in1999was340.68billion Yuan. It reached1963.52billion Yuan in2011and increased by12.8%in comparison with that of last year. Its GDP has ranked among the top ten in China for three years in a row.On the basis of the retrieval and systematical review of research findings both at home and abroad on regional economy, county economy, urban and rural economy, three indexes were chosen in this paper to construct the comprehensive evaluation index system of the county economy of Hunan Province, including GDP per capita, local financial revenue per capita, the proportion of the second industry in GDP. The weighted sum method was adopted for processing the data. Then, according the comprehensive scores,88administrative units at the county level of the province in1999and2010were divided into four grades, including developed units, relatively developed units, less developed units and backward units. And the spatial distribution maps of various grades of units were made. At last, based on the preliminary research conclusion, the major reasons for the spatial differences in the development level of the county economy of Hunan Province were analyzed in terms of the inherent law, geographical location, resource endowment and development policy of regional economic development and some measures were proposed to reduce spatial differences in the development level of county economy of the province and promote the sustainable, healthy and coordinated development of county economy for the reference of decision-making departments.The major research conclusions of this paper are listed as follows: First, the development level of county economy of Hunan Province gradually declines from east to west on the whole. Counties (cities) with relatively backward economy are mainly located in the mid-west of the province. Second, the development level of county economy of Hunan Province tends to decline as the altitude increases. Third, under the premise of the transitional economy on the whole, there are abrupt changes in the economic development level of adjacent counties (cities). Fourth, in comparison with1999, spatial differences in the development level of county economy of Hunan Province obviously tended to grow greater in2010. Fifth, in the eastern region where the development level of county economy is generally graded as relatively developed, there are also backward counties(cities), while in the mid-west region which is generally graded as less developed, there are also relatively developed counties (cities). Sixth, resource endowment, terrain and transportation closely related to terrain have made ideal contribution to the generation of the spatial differences in the development level of county economy of Hunan province.