It's Henan's turn to take drastic steps to revamp its development zones.

On June 25, the Working Conference on Deepening the Reform and Development of Development Zones in Henan Province was held. Liu Ning, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, attended and delivered a speech. Liu Ning pointed out that development zones are the main frontiers, battlefields, and engines of economic construction. We must firmly grasp the new missions, new features, and new situations faced by the reform and development of development zones. In accordance with the standards of first-class planning, management, ecology, facilities, and services, we should combine the goal - oriented and problem - oriented approaches, and make the effective market and the proactive government work in the same direction. We should accelerate the transformation and upgrading of industries, make breakthroughs in scientific and technological innovation, and promote green and low - carbon development. We aim to build a leading area for the high - quality development of the real economy, form a model of "innovation + quality + safety" with the effective integration of new - quality productivity, first - class ecological environment, rich and vivid scenarios, and reform and opening - up development. We also aim to create a "plateau of benefits, peak of efficiency, and summit of effectiveness" with the efficient allocation of resource elements and integration into and service for the national unified market, driving the high - quality development and high - performance governance of the province's economy and society.

A reform of development zones has kicked off in many provinces across the country, and this time it's Henan. The first development zone in Henan Province is the Zhengzhou High - tech Zone, established in 1991. By 2021, the number of development zones in Henan Province had reached 288, covering types such as economic and technological development zones, high - tech development zones, industrial clusters, and characteristic parks.

At that time, local media reported that for a long time, the total number of development zones in Henan ranked among the top three in the country, but there were very few top - tier development zones, and there were many "mid - level" development zones that were not of high quality. Also in September of that year, Henan launched a reform of development zones across the province with the concept of "one provincial - level development zone per county" as an important carrier.

To date, there are 188 development zones in Henan, 100 fewer than in 2021. In terms of data, in 2025, the operating income of industrial enterprises above designated size in the province's development zones will exceed 4 trillion yuan, accounting for over 80% of the province's total, with a year - on - year increase of 5.9%, 2.1 percentage points higher than that of the province's industry. By the end of 2025, the added value of the leading industries in the province's development zones will account for 58.7%.

The reform process is accelerating. In January this year, the Henan Provincial Development and Reform Commission held a promotion meeting on rectifying the incomplete reform of development zones. At the meeting, it was mentioned that the problems of incomplete reform in the province's development zones are still prominent. The institutional mechanisms are not sound enough, the level of industrial agglomeration and cluster development is not high, the per - mu benefit needs to be enhanced, and the high - quality development of development zones faces significant constraints.

The Outline of the 15th Five - Year Plan of Henan released in May mentioned that we should strengthen the resource integration, industrial linkage, and innovation collaboration among industrial parks, establish a provincial - municipal coordination mechanism for the layout of leading industries, and create a matrix - style park layout led by the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Comprehensive Experimental Zone, with national economic and technological development zones, national high - tech industrial development zones, and provincial - level development zones with an operating income of 5 billion yuan (inclusive) or more as the backbone, and the remaining provincial - level development zones as the support.

At this Working Conference on Deepening the Reform and Development of Development Zones, Liu Ning, Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, provided a "roadmap" for the upgrading and quality improvement of development zones. The first item is to release comprehensive benefits by constructing a modern development zone matrix. Based on the requirements of industrial division of labor and adhering to the principle of complementary advantages, we should strengthen resource integration, innovation collaboration, and industrial linkage, and optimize, upgrade, abolish, and integrate homogeneous parks.

In fact, in the 15th Five - Year Plan period, the development plans of each province have made targeted arrangements for promoting the high - quality development of various parks such as high - tech zones, economic development zones, and science cities, and deepening the reform of the management systems and mechanisms of parks. Many parks with similar functions are being "merged" on a large scale, but "slimming down" is not simply about subtraction but about better addition, enabling parks to focus on industries and development.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Urban Evolution Theory". Author: Yang Huan. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.