The "2019 CCID Top 100 County Economies Study" and the "Top 100 County Economies (2019) Ranking," compiled by the County Economy Research Center of CCID Consulting—an authoritative body under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology—have been officially released. The study focuses on the new drivers and mechanisms for high-quality development in county-level economies in the new era, providing a comprehensive analysis of the regional landscape and development characteristics of the top 100 counties.

The National Top 100 Counties and Cities have long served as a key indicator for measuring the economic development of counties across the country and as an essential reference list for regional economic growth. Xiaochuan has selected this list for your reference:

　　 2019 National Top 100 County Economies Ranking

Currently, China’s economy has shifted from a phase of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development, and is in a critical period of transforming development models, optimizing economic structures, and shifting growth drivers. Achieving high-quality development, promoting coordinated regional development, building a modern economic system, and implementing the rural revitalization strategy all rely on counties—where the foundation lies, the challenges are concentrated, and the vitality resides.

For this ranking, the County-Level Economy Research Center of CCID Consulting adhered to the Five Development Concepts and followed the basic principles of scientific rigor, systematic approach, objectivity, practicality, and comparability. It established two key thresholds for inclusion in the database: “regional GDP exceeding 40 billion yuan” and “general public budget revenue exceeding 2 billion yuan.” The center also developed an evaluation indicator system for high-quality county-level economic development, comprising 4 first-level indicators, 8 second-level indicators, and 22 third-level indicators.

1. The Top 100 Counties: More in the East, Fewer in the West; Strong Provinces, Strong Counties; Balanced and Comprehensive Development Is the Main Theme of County-Level Economic Development III. Analysis of Research Results

Regional Disparities: The East Holds the Advantage. Among the Top 100 counties, the eastern region accounts for 71 seats, the central region for 19, the western region for 7, and the northeastern region for 3. Compared to 2018, the eastern region lost 3 seats, the central region gained 3, the western region lost 1, and the northeastern region gained 1. The rise of the central region and the revitalization of the northeast are beginning to show results.

Strong Provinces, Strong Counties: Jiangsu Leads. Among the top 10 counties, Jiangsu Province holds 6 spots and occupies the top 4 positions. Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shandong provinces stand out, accounting for 26, 19, and 18 spots, respectively.

2. The Top 100 Counties Demonstrate Outstanding Strength and Secondary Industry-Driven Growth; Improving the Quality of the Supply System Is the Primary Focus of County-Level Economic Development

The Top 100 counties demonstrate outstanding overall strength. In 2018, these counties—covering less than 2% of the nation’s land area and home to 7% of the population—generated one-tenth of the nation’s GDP; covering less than 3% of the total county land area and home to 11% of the population, they generated approximately one-quarter of the GDP of all counties.

The primary driver of development in the Top 100 counties is the secondary sector. The value added by the secondary sector reached 5.03 trillion yuan, accounting for a high proportion of 52.4%, which is 11.7 percentage points higher than the national average. The top priority for the development of the Top 100 counties is to reduce ineffective supply in the secondary sector, expand effective supply, enhance the overall quality of the secondary sector’s supply system, and improve the adaptability of the supply structure to the demand structure.

3. The Top 100 Counties are generally in the late stage of industrialization, with scientific and technological innovation serving as a strategic pillar for county-level economic development

The per capita GDP of the Top 100 counties stands at 101,000 yuan, second only to Jiangsu and far exceeding that of developed provinces such as Guangdong and Shandong, as well as the national average. According to the Channari classification of industrialization stages, this places them in the late stage of industrialization. In terms of industrial structure, the Top 100 counties exhibit a tertiary sector structure where the value added of the primary sector is less than 10%, and the share of the secondary sector exceeds that of the tertiary sector, further confirming their position in the late stage of industrialization.Guiding China’s counties to transition from labor- and capital-intensive industries to technology-intensive industries, and ultimately to knowledge-intensive industries, represents an opportunity that counties in the late industrialization stage must actively seize under the new circumstances.

4. The Top 100 Counties Have Begun to Break Free from Investment Dependency; Coordinated Drive by the “Three Engines” Has Become a Key Trend in County-Level Economic Development

In 2018, the total fixed-asset investment of the Top 100 counties was 5.24 trillion yuan, accounting for 54.7% of their regional GDP, which is lower than the national average (71.7%).Among the Top 100 counties, fixed-asset investment accounted for more than 100% of GDP in 7 counties, between 50% and 100% in 51 counties, and between 50% and 100% in 42 counties. This indicates that the Top 100 counties have begun to move away from investment dependence and are shifting toward an economic structure that places equal emphasis on investment, consumption, and exports.

5. The Top 100 Counties exhibit robust consumption and strong capacity to attract production factors; enriching the people and strengthening the counties have become the practical goals of county-level economic development

The consumption capacity of the Top 100 Counties far exceeds the national average. The disposable income of urban residents (44,000 yuan) and rural residents (23,000 yuan) in the Top 100 Counties, as well as the per capita retail sales of consumer goods (34,000 yuan), are 12%, 61%, and 72% higher than the national average, respectively, fully demonstrating the efforts and achievements of the Top 100 Counties in improving residents’ living standards.

The Top 100 Counties have significantly enhanced their ability to attract capital and population. The total balance of domestic and foreign currency deposits in financial institutions within the Top 100 Counties stands at 9.9 trillion yuan, comparable to that of Shandong Province, indicating that the county-level economy has reached a certain level of capability in attracting capital. The higher a county ranks among the Top 100, the higher its population density and the stronger its ability to attract and concentrate population.