Central Plains City Cluster

This refers to the group of cities in China's inland that, with Zhengzhou as the center, are densely located in spatial layout and closely linked in economy and pursue integrated development based on advanced transportation and communication networks.

In an overall plan for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, issued in August 2003, the provincial authorities set the goal to develop an economic uplift belt in the Zhengzhou-centered area with eight surrounding cities: Jiaozuo, Jiyuan, Kaifeng, Luohe, Luoyang, Pingdingshan, Xinxiang, and Xuchang. The Central Plains City Cluster Development Plan, approved by the State Council in December 2016, made it clear that the Central Plains city cluster would have a core development area to cover Henan's Hebi, Jiaozuo, Jiyuan, Kaifeng, Luohe, Luoyang, Pingdingshan, Shangqiu, Xinxiang, Xuchang, Zhengzhou, and Zhoukou, Shanxi's Jincheng, and Anhui's Bozhou. These cities are expected to drive the development of other cities in the Central Plains economic zone, including Henan's Anyang, Nanyang, Puyang, Sanmenxia, Xinyang, and Zhumadian, Hebei's Handan and Xingtai, Shanxi's Changzhi and Yuncheng, Anhui's Bengbu, Fuyang, Huaibei, and Suzhou, and Shandong's Heze and Liaocheng.

The Central Plains city cluster will be developed into a new economic growth pole, an important base of advanced manufacturing and modern services, a pioneer zone of innovation and entrepreneurship in central and western China, a highland of two-way opening up in inland China, and a demonstration zone for green, ecological development. This will create a development paradigm that is networked, open, and integrated. The Central Plains city cluster was designated by China's central leadership as one of the seven city clusters in a document, released in November 2018, on creating more effective mechanisms for coordinated regional development.

As the core of the Central Plains city cluster, Zhengzhou is the locomotive, engine, growth pole, and radiation source of the regional economy. A mega-city with a population of 12.6 million and a GDP of 1.26 trillion yuan, it is one of the largest transportation hubs in inland China, an important national center of commodity logistics and transactions, an influential center of education, culture, and medical care, and an advanced manufacturing center represented by automobiles, electronic information, and high-end equipment. Zhengzhou has grown to be a central city in China.

中原城市群

中原城市群是中國北方內(nèi)陸地區(qū)以鄭州為中心，依托發(fā)達(dá)的交通通信網(wǎng)絡(luò)形成的空間結(jié)構(gòu)緊湊、經(jīng)濟(jì)聯(lián)系緊密的一體化發(fā)展城市群體。

2003年8月，中共河南省委、河南省政府印發(fā)《河南省全面建設(shè)小康社會規(guī)劃綱要》，提出要建設(shè)中原城市群經(jīng)濟(jì)隆起帶，即以鄭州為中心，包括洛陽、開封、新鄉(xiāng)、焦作、許昌、平頂山、漯河、濟(jì)源在內(nèi)的城市密集區(qū)。2016年12月國務(wù)院批復(fù)的《中原城市群發(fā)展規(guī)劃》，明確中原城市群以河南省鄭州市、開封市、洛陽市、平頂山市、新鄉(xiāng)市、焦作市、許昌市、漯河市、濟(jì)源市、鶴壁市、商丘市、周口市和山西省晉城市、安徽省亳州市為核心發(fā)展區(qū)，聯(lián)動輻射河南省安陽市、濮陽市、三門峽市、南陽市、信陽市、駐馬店市，河北省邯鄲市、邢臺市，山西省長治市、運(yùn)城市，安徽省宿州市、阜陽市、淮北市、蚌埠市，山東省聊城市、菏澤市等中原經(jīng)濟(jì)區(qū)其他城市，要求把中原城市群建設(shè)成為經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展新增長極、重要的先進(jìn)制造業(yè)和現(xiàn)代服務(wù)業(yè)基地、中西部地區(qū)創(chuàng)新創(chuàng)業(yè)先行區(qū)、內(nèi)陸地區(qū)雙向開放新高地和綠色生態(tài)發(fā)展示范區(qū)，構(gòu)建網(wǎng)絡(luò)化、開放式、一體化的發(fā)展新格局。2018年11月，中共中央、國務(wù)院發(fā)布《關(guān)于建立更加有效的區(qū)域協(xié)調(diào)發(fā)展新機(jī)制的意見》，將中原城市群列為7大城市群之一。

作為中原城市群的核心城市，鄭州是區(qū)域經(jīng)濟(jì)的龍頭、發(fā)動機(jī)、增長極和輻射源，是人口超過1260萬、GDP總量超過1.26萬億的特大城市，是內(nèi)陸地區(qū)最大的立體交通樞紐之一，也是全國重要的商品物流和市場交易中心，全國有影響的教育、文化和醫(yī)療中心，以汽車、電子信息和高端裝備為代表的先進(jìn)制造業(yè)中心，成為國家中心城市之一。