Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 4, 2022

The State’s Obligation to Ensure Coordinated Regional Development

(Abstract)

Li Haiping

The state’s obligation to ensure coordinated regional development is founded on both the guiding principles of the Constitution and, in normative terms, on the provisions of the national objectives on the implementation of the new development concept and the principles of socialism. The essence of the obligation of coordinated regional development is the substantive equality of the regions, which is an obligation under objective law constituted by purposive obligation and instrumental obligation. Purposive obligation is reflected in the state’s contribution to the less developed regions in terms of basic living, basic public services and infrastructure development, while instrumental obligation is reflected in the restrictions on legislative, administrative and supervisory action under the national objectives of coordinated regional development. The limits of purposive obligation should be set in accordance with the principles of proportionality and effectiveness, while the main elements of instrumental obligation include the construction of a legal system for coordinated regional development, the targeted allocation of local legislative power, modest degree of intervention in local policies on human resource and industry subsidies, and the implementation of diversified and comprehensive supervision. As a model of a state obligation defined under the provisions of the national objectives, the rationale for the state’s obligation to ensure coordinated regional development can be universalized as a general theory under the provisions of the national objectives.