On the morning of April 17, a bilateral seminar on “Balanced Development of Large, Medium and Small Cities” between China and South Korea was held at SPI/SAI. Vice President Luo Feng and President Yook Dong-il of Korea Research Institute for Local Administration (KRILA) attended the seminar. Zhou Jing, Vice President of Shanghai Academy of Development & Reform, presided over the meeting, which was attended by all researchers of Shanghai Academy of Development & Reform.

Luo Feng pointed out in his speech that the dialectical relationship between economic agglomeration and regional disparity is a common issue in the context of globalization. Taking China’s urbanization as an example, he emphasized that the development concept of “striving for balance through agglomeration” urgently needed the academic community to break through theoretical constraints and explore innovative paths. Drawing on South Korea’s experience, President Yook Dong-il proposed that the scientific matching of policy goals and measures is the key to resolving regional disparity. He looks forward to offering new ideas for the development of East Asian cities through mutual learning between China and South Korea.

During the special report session, Associate Researcher Lee Won-do from KRILA analyzed the current situation of regional disparityin South Korea with detailed data and proposed a dual-track strategy of “differentiated policies + infrastructureequalization”. Director LIANG yuanzhuo focused on the cultivation of medium-sizedcities in urban-rural fringe areas, emphasizing the synergy between industry-city integration and optimization of public services. PAN wenxuan, President of Shanghai Academy of Development & Reform, proceeded from China’s national conditions, systematically expounded the deepeningof horizontal fiscal system reform and advocated sharing of regional interests through the tax distribution mechanism and innovation. Dr. YU jianning took the integration of the Yangtze River Delta as a case study, proposing a new model of coordinated people-orienteddevelopment.

During the free discussion session, scholars from both sides had a lively discussion on topics such as construction of youth-friendly cities, coordination of value-added tax distribution, and sharing of empirical research data.

President Yook Dong-il pointed out in summary that the key to achieving balanced development lies in clarifying the relationship between policy goals and policy measures. President PAN wenxuan pointed out that to conduct in-depth research on urban issues, we should make full use of multi-channel data and modern quantitative analysis methods. Both sides unanimously agreed that in the future, they will deepen exchanges and cooperation in areas such as local governance, smart cities, and coordinated regional development, and join hands to contribute Eastern wisdom to global development.