Study On The Influence Of China High-speed Railway On Regional Economic Development

Due to accelerated industrialization and urbanization of China as well aseconomic development, technical improvement and rising standard of living, thetransportation network is required to be more rational to meet the demand of regionaleconomy, and to meet transportation service quality requirement which are fast,convenient, safe, comfortable, containerized and customized. Transportation hasalways been an important dynamic engine for regional economic development;regional economic development is driving scientific development of transportation.High speed railway, as a backbone of transportation system, is playing increasinglyimportant role in regional economic development of China. Especially since April2007, high speed train witness has been undergoing rapid development, atexceptional speed, in both its scale and level, and brings profound influence on thestructure and development of the regional economy of China, and therefore attractsmore and more attentions and study from experts and scholars. This paper attemptsto study and analyze the influence of China high-speed railway on regional economicdevelopment from the perspective of Regional Economics, and offersrecommendation for high speed railway development and planning for reference ofrelevant decision makers.Firstly from the basis of regional economic theory, we extract transportationmechanism out of regional economic theory, and find out their internal economicrelations by means of theoretical analysis on the influence of transportation onregional economy and combing characteristic of high speed train. Especially throughdemonstration of internal relation of the radiation theory, development axis theory,new economic geography theory and high-speed railway, under the guidance ofNetwork development theory and transportation corridor system, the paper studiespositive influence of China high-speed railway on regional economic developmentfrom the perspectives of central city point,“economic corridor” and regionalstrategies. After an overview of high speed railway development of China, the paper elaborates, by means of practical examples; the influence of high speed railway onregional economic belts since high speed railway was built, including formation ofregional economic belts, increasing link among regions, change of regional economicstructure, and active effect on economy of underdeveloped areas.Secondly, the paper analyses internal mechanism of high speed railway’sinfluence on regional economic development by setting up the mathematical model,i.e. find out internal logic of this mutual influence based on change of major regionaleconomy measurement data such as economic aggregate, industry and employment ofregions before and after setup high speed railway.The major scope of measurement is cities and towns along the high speedrailway line and the income that high speed railway created. The paper further makesuse of “accessibility " model to analyze the economic benefit brought by shortenedtime and space distance and the influence on industry and employment etc, and fullydemonstrates positive influence of China high-speed railway on regional economicdevelopment.Furthermore, the paper make comparison analysis of high speed railwaydevelopment history, the function on regional development course and managementand operation experience of developed countries, and find out shortcomings of highspeed railway development of China, especially like technology emphasis other thanmanagement emphasis, scale emphasis other than planning emphasis, performanceemphasis other than policy emphasis etc. these shortcomings will severely weaken thepositive effect of high speed railway on regional economic development. To fullymake use of the function of high speed railway on stable economic growth and onbalanced regional economic development of regions, it is necessary to activelypromote mechanism reformation, and take the path of reformation, opening-up andcooperation.Finally, through study, the paper holds the opinion that under the currentcondition of slowing down world economy, increasing pressure of domestic economicgrowth and unbalanced regional economic development, high speed railwaydevelopment shall take the following policy path: First, develop high speed railway,construct efficient and comprehensive railway network, and promote balancedregional economic development; Second, develop high speed network, constructchannels of big capacities, and improve regional mainline network; third, stick to sustainable development. Meanwhile, the paper reminds that negative spillover effectand substitution effect of high speed railway over regional economic developmentmust be prevented.