Why has Jianghan City in Hubei Province not been established? What is the possibility of Jianghan City being established?

The place called Jianghan City in Hubei Province has been rumored for a long time, but it has never been changed. It is said that the country is preparing to merge Xiantao, Qianjiang, Tianmen and Honghu to establish a Jianghan City, so that Hubei will have another powerful prefecture-level city. However, this statement has never been implemented, so how likely is it that Jianghan City will be established?

Why has Jianghan City in Hubei Province not been established?

Because the possibility of establishment is extremely low, it has been abandoned. Tianmen, Xiantao, Qianjiang and Honghu Hanchuan have similar customs and dialects. If they can be merged, there will be great potential. The name of the merged city can be called Jianghan City, so that no one has any objection. The key is that it is difficult to choose a location for the urban area. If it is really merged, the central area will be in the current Xiantao area. It can be considered to be close to the Han River and the junction of Tianxianqian on National Highway 318, such as Sanfutan to Maozui, as the new urban area, which will also create a certain distance from Wuhan!

How likely is it that Jianghan City will be established in 2020?

There is basically no possibility of a merger. When Tianmen, Xiantao and Qianjiang were separated from Jingzhou area, they were going to establish Jianghan City. Then it became a problem which city to place the municipal government. After much debate, the quota was given to Suizhou County, which is now Suizhou City. Tianmen, Xiantao and Qianjiang became provincially-administered cities.

Honghu is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jingzhou, close to Wuhan. From the current administrative planning, there is no possibility and necessity to merge. The Wuhan urban circle has integrated the surrounding counties and cities into the Wuhan urban agglomeration, and now the high-speed trains have closely connected them. The provincial direct management of Tianxianqian is more flat. After so many years of operation, it has been proved that this model is feasible. It also provides examples and experience for provincial direct management across the country.

Direct provincial management is also in line with the national trend of streamlining administration and delegating power. The merger involves the reallocation and adjustment of many enterprises, institutions and administrative establishments, which increases the cost of administrative management. Therefore, the merger is just something to think about. It is impossible for the time being and it does not have the feasibility and national approach of saving costs and streamlining administration and delegating power.

Does Jianghan City really exist?

In fact, the existence of Tianxianqian can be said to be an exploration and experiment of a provincially-administered county across the country.

It can be said that the exploration of Tianxianqian, a provincially-administered county, was successful. By giving the three counties of Tianxianqian the provincially-administered management level and management authority equivalent to that of a prefecture-level city, the three provincially-administered counties of Tianxianqian are developing rapidly and are thriving.

If the three counties of Tianxianqian were merged to form the prefecture-level Jianghan City, it would be tantamount to declaring the failure of the exploration and experiment of the three provincial direct-administered counties of Tianxianqian. No matter where the new urban area of ​​Jianghan City is placed, it will be disadvantageous to the other two counties and cities.

In fact, the direct provincial administration of counties should not be reduced, on the contrary, it should be promoted. For example, traditional large counties such as Yidu, Zaoyang, Macheng, Chibi, and Hanchuan in Hubei should also implement a policy similar to that of Tianxianqian or even Ezhou.

The prefecture-level city governs the county and the county-level city. First, it constrains the development of the county, especially hurting the autonomy and initiative of grassroots cadres and the masses. Second, the prefecture-level city obtains tax revenue from the county, which further aggravates the gap between urban and rural development and is not conducive to overall balanced development. It can be said that the system of city-county governance is outdated and should be reformed. In fact, it is impossible for a prefecture-level city to become a central city. It can be said that it was established for the sake of establishment.

Therefore, the direct provincial management of Tianxianqian should not be changed, nor should it be merged to form Jianghan City. Instead, since this exploratory experiment has been successful, it should be promoted. China not only needs prefecture-level cities that are expanded versions of county towns, but also needs hundreds of prosperous county towns.