To achieve the optimum level of regional development, the national planning and coordination function is indispensable, according to Jin Bei, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, or CASS.

According to the CASS website, Jin said sufficient market competition can bring into play the effect of tending to equilibrium in regional relations, but it will also produce a tendency toward polarization, leading to excessive differentiation of regional economies. Avoiding that end requires national planning and coordination.

To achieve effective inter-regional resource allocation through orderly competition, Jin said, China should attach greater importance to the balanced orientation of regional development strategies and policy arrangements, give full play to the overall planning role of national strategies and policies and thoroughly support the decisive role of the market in resource allocation.