Luoyang used to be the ancient capital of the thirteen dynasties, and it was very brilliant. Why can't it be called a second tier city these years? What's the reason for the decline of Luoyang?
According to the latest standard of city division, Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, has been classified as a new first tier city. In addition to Zhengzhou, other cities in the province are classified into the third and fourth tier cities, not even a second tier city. In fact, people expect a lot from Luoyang, because Luoyang was once put into the second tier city. And Luoyang's total economic output ranks second in Henan Province, equivalent to half of Zhengzhou's. Luoyang used to be one of the five major heavy industry bases in the 1950s and 1960s.
In ancient Chinese history, there are two cities that can not be bypassed, that is, Luoyang and Chang'an. There was a saying that Chang'an in Xijing and Luoyang, the capital of the East. From Han Dynasty to Song Dynasty. Luoyang is not even the capital, but at least the capital. But after the Song Dynasty, because the political center moved to the north, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Xi'an and other ancient capitals were not the same. Xi'an is the capital of Shaanxi Province, and Luoyang is not even the capital. In Ming and Qing Dynasties, Kaifeng was the capital of Henan Province. There is also a reason why Luoyang is not chosen. Luoyang is located too far to the west, which is not conducive to the management of the whole province.
If it has been developed in accordance with this model, Kaifeng must be the first, but Luoyang must be the second. But after entering modern times, railway began to become an important means of transportation. In the late Qing Dynasty, the Qing government built a lot of railways. Because the Beijing Han railway did not pass through Kaifeng, it was doomed to Kaifeng. Zhengzhou began to rise gradually depending on the advantages of the railway, especially after becoming the railway intersection, the development speed of Zhengzhou is faster. By the beginning of the founding of the people's Republic of China, Zhengzhou had more than 1000 shops, which were not available in Luoyang or Kaifeng. History once gave Luoyang an opportunity that even Kaifeng, the provincial capital, did not have.
In the early days of the founding of the people's Republic of China, the country's heavy industry foundation was very weak. In order to improve the level of heavy industry, the state has successively set up heavy industry enterprises in many cities. Luoyang has set up four machinery factories, bearing factories, tractor factories and so on. Relying on the foundation of heavy industry, Luoyang has rapidly become the fifth largest heavy industry city in China. In terms of urban status, it is indeed higher than the provincial capital Zhengzhou. But Luoyang's industry also has its own problems. The proportion of Luoyang's industry is seriously out of balance. More than 80% of its industrial income comes from heavy industry. In the era of heavy industry development, naturally this is a great advantage. But in the 1990s, a series of problems appeared.
After entering the 1990s, the economy has developed in many aspects. Many once brilliant heavy industry cities, due to the single type of industry, have problems in succession, such as Changchun, Luoyang and so on. The economy of these cities began to transform, and Luoyang began to develop food industry and tourism. Due to the late start, there is no fixed advantage. In 2008, Zhengzhou's total economic output was a little over 300 billion, while Luoyang's was close to 200 billion. But after that, the gap between them gradually widened. Last year, Zhengzhou's total economy exceeded 900 billion yuan, while Luoyang was less than half of Zhengzhou's.
Cities that rely solely on heavy industry have encountered some bottlenecks. At present, Luoyang is rapidly changing its industrial model. From the current situation, Luoyang's Internet industry is in full swing. In the future, Luoyang is expected to remain the second place in Henan Province. With the economic transformation, Luoyang is expected to enter the ranks of second tier cities. Finally, Luoyang is currently building a subway. In the whole of Henan Province, except Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, Luoyang is the only one left. There are many hard targets for the construction of the subway, so it can be seen that Luoyang has indeed reached this level.