Merger of cities in Shandong can benefit both if done right

THE STATE COUNCIL, China's Cabinet, approved Shandong provincial government's application to merge its smallest administrative area, the city of Laiwu, with the neighboring provincial capital Jinan last week. China Daily reporter Li Yang comments:

The move will increase Jinan's area from 8,177 square kilometers to 10,244 sq km, its population from 7.4 million to 8.7 million, and its annual gross domestic product from about 809 billion yuan ($120 billion) to 913 billion yuan, according to last year's data.

The merging of the two cities is not a surprise to many, as the Shandong provincial government started carrying out a regional integration development plan customized for the two cities in 2013, and a 117-km high-speed railway connecting the two cities has been under construction since late 2017.