The Rule Of Law And Regional Economic Development

The rule of law has been political ideality of human beings for centuries. It is the kingcraft of managing state affairs in modern countries. Since reform and opening of China, "governing the state in accordance with law, and building a socialist law - based country" has been an important policy of the Party and the state in building socialism with Chinese feature. Economic development and social progress rely on healthful legal system; vice versa, perfection of legal system promotes economic prosperity and social progress. In current China, to accommodate to new circumstances of socialist market economy, overall social progress and China's entering WTO, it needs to quicken the step of forming a socialist legal system with Chinese feature, carry forward legal reform, make decisions scientific, democratic and legal, and strengthen power restriction and supervision. In the 16^th National representatives conference of Chinese Communist Party, incisive discussion was made on fulfilling the policy of managing state affairs in accordance with law and building a socialist law - based country up to the height of affluent society. Improving economic regulations was put forward in the 3^rd plenary session of the 16^th National representatives conference of Chinese Communist Party: It is required to stress establishing regulations, normalizing authority and responsibility, ensuring rights and interests and strengthening economic legislation according to policies of governing the state in accordance with law. Constructing a harmonious socialist society was put forward in the 4^th plenary session of the 16^th National representatives conference of Chinese Communist Party. A harmonious socialist society should be first of all a democratic and law - basedsociety, and it is required to realize the rule of law in essence. Therefore, in macro-background, economic development, including regional economic development, should be directed into the orbit of the rule of law.Modern regional economy is market economy with increasing level of socialization, market distribution resource fails to function in some fields. Accommodation of common goods cannot reach specific economic region just through market distribution. To normalize the order of regional economy and to solve problems existed in regional economy need government's effective intervention, such as through legal actions of managing state affairs with the law, normalizing decisions, restricting power and transferring function. Hence, governing the state in accordance with law should begin with governing the region in accordance with law. Only after realizing governing the county in accordance with law, governing the city in accordance with law, governing the province in accordance with law, can the mansion of governing the state in accordance with law be built. Only law - based region, i.e., region with good legal order formed through governing the region in accordance with law, can create preferable social environment for regional economy. Regional economy depends on and benefits from the rule of law. The rule of law is not only a necessary condition for regional economic development, but also a system factor for regional economic development. The rule of law upgrades not only legal character of the region, but also core competitive edge.Many coastal cities of our country such as Shanghai, Dalian, Ningbo and Qingdao take good law - based environment as an important part of promoting development of regional economy. Western provinces and cities also brought forward in succession the task of strengthening the rule of law. Chengdu made decisions twice on governing the city in accordance with law, and made strategic policy of governing the city in accordance with law. It aims to develop economy greatly through pursuing the rule of law.Theory on the relation of the rule of law and economy has reached a high levelin China's academe, but mainly in the laws point of view. Most researches are established in macro level and emphasizes on the normalization and induction functions of the rule of law. Researches are seldom made about influence of the rule of law on intrinsic factors of regional economic development. There is space for further research in the fields of the rule of law and fostering regional characteristic economy, forming regional core competitive edge, special regional economic development and sustainable development of region.Therefore, research on pursuing the rule of law during regional economic development is needed both in theory and in practice. 1 work in a local legislation department and know very well in my practice that the rule of law plays a very important role in regional economic development. Under my tutor's utmost instruction and energetic support, I select the rule of law and regional economic development as the topic of my doctoral dissertation. The paper aims to probe into the internal relation between the rule of law and regional economic development using visual angle and method of research on regional economics and from the point of the rule of law.The dissertation includes 7 chapters in 3 sections. Section 1 is introduction, including chapter 1 and chapter 2, which starts with scientific connotation of the rule of law and illustrates the internal relation between the rule of law and regional economic development. Chapter 2 is a monograph, including chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6, which elaborates the internal relation between the rule of law and regional economic development through researching the relation between the rule of law and fostering regional characteristic economy, forming regional core competitive edge, regional economic exploiting and sustainable development of region separately. Section 3, i.e. Chapter 7, takes a theoretical analysis to problems existed in the practice of pursuing the rule of law in region.The dissertation attempts to innovate in the following 5 aspects:The dissertation interprets close internal relations between the rule of law and regional economy. It points out that the rule of law as an important developmentfactor is a determining factor for elements of space and of production to function in regional economy, and it belongs to category of braking factor. In the meanwhile, as modern regional economy is market economy with increasing level of socialization, regional economy needs legal system arrangement to specify market order and to solve problems existed in economic activities. The rule of law creates steady and orderly social environment, available environment of competition and good environment of credit, and form scientific and effective management mode and regulation control mechanism for operation of regional economic system. As an important component part of social institution, the rule of law plays a role of stimulation and restriction: it reduces transaction costs, saves transaction tuition, and raises efficiency of regional collocation resource and ability to get resource. Therefore, as a system arrangement, the rule of law is an inner factor for regional economic development.The dissertation illustrates that regional legal system arrangement is embodiment of the state's legal system arrangement in region and space. It has characters of high unification and obvious discrepancy. Various types of regional economy form national economy, thus raise different requirements to the superstructure of regional legal system arrangement. As an important component part of state's legal system arrangement, in the principle of unified legal system and on the base of different natural environment, cultural environment and economic traits, regional legal system arrangement adopts different modality and rule. They form different legal system operation patterns in various regions so as to coordinate regional economic relations, solve problems existed in regional economy and accelerate regional economic development. Unification and discrepancy of regional legal system arrangement take different influence on regions at different developing stage and supplies optional space to different regions.Regional economy operates in specific time and space, so local legal system arrangement should capture center of effort during pursuing the rule of law, fix the stress of regional legal arrangement, set up effective operation mode and procedureon the base of holding state's policies as a whole, aiming at functional localization and economic conditions of each region, thus form systematic legal system to promote regional economic development gradually. For example, regional characteristic economy requires fostering leading industry, legal system arrangement is stressed on ensuring democratic and scientific decision, leading the optimized combination of regional elements, promoting upgrading of regional industrial structure, forming leading industry and characteristic products of the region; Improvement of regional nuclear competitive edge depends on innovation and human capital exploitation, legal system arrangement should be stressed on decreasing transaction cost in innovation activities, the externality and uncertainty, arranging property rights of human capital, amplifying human capital investment security institution; The key of special regional economic development is breakthrough of element bottleneck and construction of various rigid and soft environment, and legal system arrangement should be stressed on leading elements of production to planned regional space, promoting development of mainly exploited area, and increasing self developing ability of areas to be exploited.With propulsion of industrialization and urbanization, restriction on resource and environment becomes bottleneck and keystone for sustainable development of regional economy, so an urgent task and key territory of local legal system arrangement is to promote transformation of economic growth mode, develop circulating economy, and build region with friendly environment and saving resource. Each region should strengthen legislation, strictly make law enforcement, decrease resource consumption on water, energy and mine, confine reduction of ploughed field, and efficiently inhibit the trend of ecological environmental deterioration according to consumption of resource, such as land, fresh water, energy and mine, and change of ecological environment. With a view to long term and overall situation, ecological environmental construction and natural resource in different region protection should be strengthened in the process of economic globalization and regional urbanization. Local legislation system, implementationsystem and security mechanism should be established to reflect regional ecological environment mechanism and sustainable development strategy, thus provide forceful legal support and long acting mechanism for regional cooperation and sustainable development.The dissertation discusses integrity of laws and regulations in the territory of local social economy to strengthen regional social development and harmonious society construction. As an adjuster of social relation, law and regulation coordinates regional interest and supplies leading means and controlling lever to equilibrium of interest. The present task is to adjust social relation, balance public interest, boost construction of harmonious regions and cities through extending employment of different forms, normalize man-power market order, ensure rights and interest of man-power, consummate social security system, regulate income distribution, increase income level of low income people, and secure life safety and property safety.