The concept of "direct-administered municipality" (or provincial-level city) has been in existence in China for quite a long time. In fact, it has been in used as early as the era of the Republic of China. However, back then it was known as "Special City", a city directly under the jurisdiction of the central government and enjoys special status in law. In 1930, when the Republican Government of China announced the City Organization Law, the "Special City" was renamed "Yuan Jurisdiction City", with the "yuan" here referring to the central government's Administrative Yuan (Administrative Council). After the announcement of the Constitution of the Republic of China in 1948, they were further renamed to "Direct Jurisdiction City" or "municipality". Looking back at the history of cities in China, one will see that "special cities" have always been a spatial title that combines geography and administration. During the era of the Republic of China, there were eight Special Cities, namely Nanjing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Qingdao, Hankou, Chongqing, Beiping and Guangzhou.
After 1949, the Chinese government continued to use this title to express the characteristics of such regional spaces. The "municipalities" in this period referred to the most important provincial administrative regions and established cities. This definition of such an urban administrative level has also been adopted by countries like North Korea, South Korea and Vietnam. Generally speaking, such "municipalities" tend to be more populated and usually have an important position in the political, economic and cultural aspects of a country.
Specializing in geopolitical research, Anbound has also participated in the preparation of the 13th Five-Year Plan" in many cities from the perspective of urban research. In our long-term follow-up research activities, we found that some cities in China have extremely special strategic positions. These cities may not be eye-catching, but their strategic position and spatial status are highly important. In addition, the economy of these cities is relatively advantageous. Such cities have pulling, radiating and restricting effects in the regional space, which can positively drive the development of surrounding areas. Some cities in China nowadays are actually playing such a role. To a certain extent, they function as the economic and social centers, and are often recognized as such by surrounding regions and cities.
Kashgar in Xinjiang is an example of such a city. Kashgar has a long history. Known as Cascar to Marco Polo, the prosperity of the city deeply impressed the Venetian. Kashgar is also a multi-ethnic region with more than 31 distingue ethnic groups here, including Uygur, Han, Tajik, Hui, Kirgiz, Uzbek, Kazak, Russian, Daur, Mongolian, Xibo and Manchu. The city's GDP in 2012 reached RMB 51.73 billion, an increase of 15.7% over 2011. Among that, the added value of the primary industry was RMB 17.52 billion, an increase of 6.6%. The added value of the secondary industry was RMB 14.31 billion yuan, an increase of 28%. And lastly, the added value of the tertiary industry was RMB 19.9 billion, an increase of 17.5%. It is especially worth noting that Kashgar's geography is extremely important. It is located in the southwestern corner of Xinjiang, connecting China to Central Asia. Kashgar is also a crucial part of the strategic triangle of Kashgar-Hotan-Aksu. It has extremely vital geostrategic value for stabilizing southern Xinjiang and thereby influencing the direction of Central Asia. From the viewpoint of geostrategy, the stability of Kashgar will provide a key strategic underpin for the entire southern Xinjiang. Therefore, it is necessary to give a city with obvious strategic status like Kashgar special treatment as a "Special City" in order to utilize its geographical value.
Overall, we suggest geopolitical status should be the primary condition to determine the status of "Special City". Of course, this is taking into account other social and economic development conditions such as city size, economic volume, historical and cultural traditions and the significance of urban development. Judging from the positioning of such indicators, China can roughly have about 10 "Special Cities", which are led directly by the State Council. The administrative level in these cities are lower than the "direct municipality" level. However, in some administrative links, it can be higher than the average city. This will work to reduce administrative procedures and improve administrative efficiency. Cities like Kashgar in southern Xinjiang and Kunming in southwestern China clearly fulfill the characteristics for the status of "Special cities".
It should be noted that the establishment of "Special Cities" has some major strategic advantages. This is a measure of crucial reform that not only recognizes past development achievements, special status and spatial influence of these cities, but also gives them the objective of having a pulling effect on the regional area's urban and spatial development. This measure can be used to utilize policies and reforms to stimulate economic growth and social stability. This is not only conducive to regional stability and development, but it also meets the development goals of regional economic integration something advocated by the Chinese Central Government.
Final analysis conclusion:
The establishment of "Special Cities" is a strategic continuation in the sense that it belongs to a stage of social development. However, it is one that does not disturb the pattern of national interests. At the same time, it also obviously contributes to stimulating the economic growth and the improvement of social development.
