Capital cities mustn't grow as parasites

THE MUNICIPAL government of Jinan, East China's Shandong province, not satisfied with the city's status as provincial capital, recently called on the entire province to give the city more support in order to make it the leading city in the province in terms of GDP as well. Beijing News commented on Wednesday:

It is natural for Jinan to be ambitious in terms of its economic strength since it is the provincial capital. However, it is wrong for it to call on the entire province to support its ambition.

According to the national statistics bureau, 15 cities in Shandong were on the list of China's 100 cities with the largest GDP in 2016. Among these cities, Qingdao ranked highest, at 12th on the list, while Jinan at 21, ranked third among the province's cities.