The Chinese capital of
Beijing has been partly blamed for poverty in its neighboring
countryside, as it hordes human and capital resources, according to
a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
The CASS report, "Blue Paper on China's Regional Development",
carried by Monday's Beijing Youth Daily, said Beijing and
Tianjin, the two most important cities in north China, are now
surrounded by 32 counties defined as poverty-stricken by Chinese
standards.
Of the 10.65 million people living in the 32 counties, all
belonging to Hebei Province, 2.73 million live on less than US$100
a year, the report said.
The wealth gap in the Beijing-Tianjin region is the worst in
China's developed areas, the report said.
It noted that though cooperation among Beijing,
Hebei and Tianjin has been a concept on paper for a long time,
no progress has been made in reality.
The report pointed out that the other two most dynamic blocs in
China, the Yangtze River Delta and Pear River Delta, have a much
more balanced development.
Shanghai has been a much more efficient engine in boosting
development in neighboring
Jiangsu and
Zhejiang provinces, the report said.
(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2006)