Stories of High-Quality Development | Hou Yongzhi: 'Cooperation' the prerequisite to leveraging each region's comparative advantages

"Geographical and administrative boundaries are tangible, but coordinated development knows no bounds. In coordinated regional development, 'cooperation' is the prerequisite to leveraging each region's comparative advantages," said Hou Yongzhi, former director-general of the Development Strategy and Regional Economy Department at the Development Research Center of the State Council, at "Stories of High-Quality Development", a People's Daily video series. 

According to Hou, different regions complement and support each other, strengthening cooperation in areas such as infrastructure connectivity and industrial development, breaking down local self-contained cycles, and strengthening domestic circulation. The 2024 Central Economic Work Conference emphasized that industrial collaboration between the eastern, central, western and northeastern regions should be deepened, while the maritime and bay area economies should be actively boosted. To promote mutual support between eastern and western regions, coordinated development between southern and northern regions, and integrated coordination between coastal and inland regions, relevant regions and departments should make efforts to eliminate deep-rooted institutional barriers, enable smoother allocation of resources across regions, and continually enhance balance and coordination in regional development by complementing each other's advantages.