A central port city aims to develop into a regional center.

On October 27, the first session of the 17th Jiujiang Municipal People's Congress opened. When deploying the main objectives for the next five years, the Jiujiang municipal government work report revealed that the growth rate of major economic indicators will remain at the forefront of the province, and the total economic output will achieve catch-up and ranking improvement among cities across the country.

In terms of key work, the Jiujiang municipal government work report pointed out that the urban pattern will be optimized. It will accelerate integration into national strategies such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt development and the rise of the central region. Adhering to the principle of prospering new urban areas and renovating old towns, Jiujiang will build itself into a central city in the adjacent border area of Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui under the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Meanwhile, targeting the goal of building an important port city on the Yangtze River, Jiujiang will develop a modern and international important shipping center on the Yangtze River, and build a port-type national logistics hub. It will improve the functional layout of "one port with five zones", and smooth the two-way logistics artery of "Jiangxi goods exported via Jiujiang and foreign goods imported via Jiujiang".

Public information shows that the goal of "building a central city in the adjacent border area of Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui under the Yangtze River Economic Belt" has been written into the outline of Jiujiang's 15th Five-Year Plan.

Jiujiang is the "northern gateway" of Jiangxi Province, and also the only riverside port city of Jiangxi. All 152 kilometers of the Yangtze River shoreline in the province are located within Jiujiang's territory.

In the regional pattern of Jiangxi Province, Jiujiang is positioned as one of the two poles of the Nanchang Metropolitan Area. The outline of Jiangxi's 15th Five-Year Plan clearly proposes to elevate the integrated development level of Nanchang, Jiujiang and Fuzhou. Jiujiang will give full play to its geographical advantage of connecting rivers and seas, build the combined Nanchang-Jiujiang Port, forge a regional manufacturing center, regional cultural tourism center and regional shipping center, and build an important node city of the Yangtze River Economic Belt with high standards.

From the perspective of the outside world, the formulation of "central city in the adjacent border area of Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui" means that Jiujiang intends to explicitly expand its radiation hinterland from a "riverside node" to a cross-provincial adjacent area, shifting from a functional channel node to a position that emphasizes the radiation and driving effect on regions such as eastern Hubei, southwestern Anhui and northeastern Hunan.

From the perspective of regional pattern, no city in this cross-provincial adjacent area occupies an absolute leading position, and Yueyang, which was once known as one of the "Four Little Dragons along the Yangtze River", also aims at the "central" position. As early as 2021, Hunan Province issued the Opinions on Supporting Yueyang to Accelerate the Construction of a Sub-central City in the Province, which clearly included the content of supporting Yueyang to build a "cross-provincial regional central city of Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi".

In terms of economic performance, in 2025, Yueyang's GDP reached 538.688 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%; in the same period, Jiujiang's GDP was 424.651 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%. Yueyang has advantages in both total volume and growth rate.

In terms of port throughput, the cargo throughput of Yueyang Port reached 160 million tons in 2025, and Chenglingji Port completed 656,200 TEUs of container throughput; in the same period, the cargo throughput of Jiujiang Port was 241 million tons, and the container throughput exceeded 1 million TEUs, taking a leading position.

At present, Jiujiang is aiming to smooth the two-way logistics artery of "Jiangxi goods exported via Jiujiang and foreign goods imported via Jiujiang", with the goal of basically forming a modern transportation system featuring seamless connection of water, land and air transportation, "highway-waterway-railway" multimodal transport, and integrated customs clearance and trade during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

While accelerating the construction of a port-type national logistics hub, Yueyang is focusing on the air freight track, and will build an international air logistics hub of "passengers in the south and cargo in the north" in integration with Changsha. Which side can secure the "central" position in the future may depend on who can convert the port traffic volume into hub functional capacity.

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "City Evolution Theory", written by Liu Yanmei, and published with authorization by 36Kr.