Regional Differences And Convergence Of Infrastructure Development Level In The New Period In China

Infrastructure is an important support for economic and social development,with a fundamental,pioneering,strategic and leading role.The comprehensive strengthening of infrastructure development is an inevitable requirement for grasping the new development stage,implementing the new development concept and building a new development pattern,which is of great significance to guarantee national security,smooth domestic circulation,promote domestic and international circulation,expand domestic demand,promote high-quality development and comprehensively build a socialist modern country.A scientific study on the regional differences and convergence of China’s infrastructure development level since the new era can provide a scientific basis for optimizing the layout,structure,function and development mode of infrastructure,building a modern infrastructure system and promoting coordinated regional development in the 14 th Five-Year Plan and even in the future period.On the basis of defining the concept of infrastructure,this study selects 40 specific indicators from four dimensions: network infrastructure,industrial upgrading infrastructure,urban infrastructure and agricultural and rural infrastructure to build a comprehensive evaluation index system,and adopts the entropy-weighted Topsis method,Dagum Gini coefficient and kernel density function,combined with GIS spatial analysis and other tools to comprehensively measure the level of infrastructure development in the new era.China’s infrastructure development level is measured comprehensively,its regional differences and convergence characteristics and evolutionary trends are explored,and optimization measures and enhancement paths are proposed in the context of building a modern infrastructure system and promoting regional coordination and regional development.The main conclusions are as follows:(1)The level of infrastructure development in China in the new era shows a fluctuating upward trend,with an overall decreasing distribution pattern of "eastern region-central region-northeastern region-western region".The growth rates of infrastructure development in the eastern,central,northeastern and western regions are7.35%,23.96%,6.55% and 25.8% respectively,and the speed of infrastructure development in the western region > the central region > the eastern region > the northeastern region.In addition,the growth rates of infrastructure development levels in the four dimensions of network-based infrastructure,industrial upgrading infrastructure,urban infrastructure and agricultural and rural infrastructure are 35.62%,55.07%,59% and 2.67%,respectively.In terms of their total amount,urban and agricultural and rural infrastructure levels are higher,while the levels of network-based infrastructure and industrial upgrading infrastructure still need to be improved.There are differences in the level of infrastructure development in different dimensions within the four regions,and the speed of development varies.The development in the central,western and northeastern regions is relatively similar,and the development of agricultural and rural infrastructure is more stable,while the development of infrastructure in the other three areas is in a stage of rapid improvement,but there is still a large gap with the eastern region.(2)The infrastructure development levels in China and the four major regions do not appear to be multipolar,except for the central region,all other regions show a trend of decreasing regional differences in infrastructure development levels.In terms of intra-regional differences,in terms of the degree of differences,the western region >the eastern region > the northeastern region > the central region;in terms of the rate of reduction of differences,the eastern region > the western region > the northeastern region > the central region,except for the central region where the intra-regional differences are increasing year by year,with an overall increase of 35.8%.In terms of inter-regional differences,the largest inter-regional differences were found in the eastern and western regions,followed by the western and northeastern regions,the western and central regions,the eastern and northeastern regions,the eastern and central regions,and the smallest inter-regional differences were found in the central and northeastern regions,and,except for the western and central regions,the central and northeastern regions,the inter-regional differences in other regions showed a decreasing trend.In addition,inter-regional differences are the main factor causing regional differences in the level of infrastructure development in the new era.(3)In terms of σ-convergence,only the degree of regional differences in infrastructure in the central region keeps increasing,while the degree of regional differences in infrastructure in other regions keeps decreasing,and all of them can achieve coordinated development.In terms of absolute β-convergence and conditionalβ-convergence,there are absolute β-convergence and conditional β-convergence in the infrastructure development levels of the whole country,the eastern region,the central region,the western region and the northeastern region,and the infrastructure of each region can eventually achieve coordinated development under the premise of considering external conditions.In addition,the four aspects of industrial structure,technology level,urbanization process and financial development level can promote the early realization of high-quality infrastructure development.Based on the above research results,combined with the relevant national policies,this study proposes countermeasures for building a modern infrastructure system and promoting coordinated regional development in terms of optimizing the infrastructure development structure,establishing a perfect financing and investment mechanism,and coordinating resources for cross-regional cooperation.