Hard to tilt the balance back toward the north

Editor's note: China's resource-rich north took the lead over the south in multiple economic development indicators before the launch of reform and opening-up, but the balance gradually tilted the other way and has accelerated in recent years. A post published on the WeChat account of Qin Shuo, a financial commentator, says:

For a long time it was the northern provinces that were the most developed, while the southern provinces lagged behind. But since the launch of reform and opening-up, it is Guangdong, Jiangsu, Fujian and Zhejiang that have become the most dynamic provinces.

Due to faster economic transition, the GDP of southern provinces increased to 62.8 percent of the country's total in 2018, while that of the northern provinces decreased to 37.2 percent. According to the World Bank standard, seven cities and provinces in the Chinese mainland - Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong - entered the ranks of high-income economies in 2018, of which only Beijing and Tianjin are in the north.