As we all know, the similarities between cities in the area between Shandong and Jiangsu are extremely high. In terms of food, culture and even customs and habits, it is like a province. In particular, the three cities of Xuzhou, Lianyungang and Suqian among the Five Tigers in Northern Jiangsu, and the three cities of Linyi, Zaozhuang and Jining in the Lunan region of Shandong Province, are like looking into the mirror in many aspects. However, the so-called people with the same surname but different lives, although they are very similar in many aspects, are not the same in terms of economic development. In your impression, is the economy in northern Jiangsu more developed, or the economy in southern Shandong?

Let’s first look at the three cities in northern Jiangsu, namely Xuzhou, Lianyungang and Suqian. Judging from the comprehensive economic strength of the city, Xuzhou City is undoubtedly the strongest in the entire southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu region, and is also the city most likely to lead the economic development trend of the entire southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu in the future. At the same time, among these six cities, Xuzhou is the only city whose economic aggregate can exceed 700 billion yuan. Although Lianyungang City's economic aggregate is not high, only 313.9 billion yuan, its per capita GDP cannot be underestimated and is among the best in Jiangsu. As for the last city of Suqian, its popularity is indeed not high. It is a weak city in Jiangsu Province, and its total economic volume is slightly lower, only 309.9 billion yuan. Generally speaking, the urban configuration level of the entire northern Jiangsu is very high.

After that, let’s look at the three cities in southern Shandong, namely Linyi, Zaozhuang, and Jining. Linyi in southern Shandong is indeed lagging behind Xuzhou in Jiangsu in terms of economic development, but as a large city with a population of over 10 million, Linyi can make up for this gap in terms of scale. In addition, Linyi has developed rapidly in the logistics industry in recent years, and many people are optimistic about its development potential. As for Zaozhuang City, its development in recent years has actually been slightly weak. Due to the shrinkage of Shandong's overall economy, its city ranking has inevitably dropped a bit, but after a comprehensive analysis, Zaozhuang's potential is not without. Finally, there is Jining City. The most powerful thing about Jining is its culture. As the famous hometown of Confucius and Mencius, its status will not be drastically affected by economic development.

Looking at it now, which one of the two regions, southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu, do you think has better development potential in the future? Who will be the rising regions of the province in the future?