大陸既大且雜,各種文獻中對於大陸經濟區的劃分方法不一而同。本文首先擬就區域經濟方法論觀點,扼要分析與比較大陸區域經濟研究文獻中所提出的各種主要區域劃分法,再對大陸經濟發展的區域化現象作一較數量化分析。經過較有系統地比較分析後,本研究傾自唹建議以「二大地帶」:東部沿海、中部內陸與西部內陸,與「九大經濟地區」:東北(黑吉﹒吉遼)、華北(京津冀魯)、華東(滬蘇浙)、華南(閩粵桂瓊)、華中(豫皖)、中北(蒙晉陝)、中南(湘鄂贛)、西北(甘青寧疆)與西南(滇黔川藏),做為研究與分析大陸區域經濟的基礎。至於大陸未來區域經濟發展的趨勢,本研究認為依城市化趨勢、以產業結構與市場形成為基礎的九個「大都會經濟圈」、大上海、珠江三角洲、長江下游、湘鄂贛、及成渝(四川),為大陸未來區域經濟發展的主要方向。至於大陸經濟發展的區域化的理論基礎與政經環境,作者已於另文中做了定性研究。
This paper provides a quantitative analysis of China's economic regions. A comparative analysis of these economic regions as suggested in the literature is first conducted and a method of analyzing China's economic regions is suggested. The arising trend of nine metropolitan economies in China is then investigated. Among these regional economies, five are coastal regions: Liaoning, the Capital, and Shanghai regions are located around the Bohai Sea at China's north coast; Greater Shanghai comprises the vast area of the Yangtze River delta and the Qientang River delta and occupies about a quarter of China's coastline; and the Pearl River Delta Regional located at the southern coast; one near-coastal region: West Jiangsu and Anhui; and three inland regions: Jilin-Heilongjiang at the northeast corner neighboring with North Korea and Russia, Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi (or the South-Central Region) at the center of the Mainland, and Sichuan in China's Midwest. The analysis suggests that with relative independent industrial and market structures, those emerging regional metropolis will lead China into a pluralistic economic growth in the first quarter of the new century. China's neighboring economies of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao may Largely benefit from actively participating in China’s economic regionalization.