China’s high-quality economic development: a study of regional variations and spatial evolution

Based on the current reality of unbalanced and inadequate regional economic development in China, this study constructs a comprehensive index system to asses China’s economic development quality across six dimensions: innovation dynamic, coordinated development, market governance, green transformation, open economy, and people’s welfare. It employs the vertical and horizontal scatter degree approach that better captures the inherent characteristics of data to dynamically measure China’s high-quality economic development index (HQEDI) and unveils its spatial interaction patterns through a modified dynamic Spatial Durbin Model. Findings indicate that China’s HQEDI demonstrates a persistent upward trend and an expanding cycle, with significant spatial agglomeration effects. The spatial correlation structure portrays an imbalanced distribution of HQEDI, with Shanghai and Beijing as the center, the eastern coast as the secondary center, the central and western regions occupying subordinate positions. Under various spatial weights, China’s HQEDI exhibits conditional β convergence and positive spillover effect. Convergence rates decreases in the order of “Central-West-Northeast-East,” with corresponding convergence cycles increasing in this order.