(Yicai Global) July 26 -- The three Chinese provinces of Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi, which are located along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, should hike cooperation and resource allocation to improve competitiveness after two of the three logged slower-than-average growth in the first half.

Hunan province’s gross domestic product expanded 2.4 percent in the first six months from a year earlier, while Jiangxi province’s GDP grew 3.6 percent, both well below the national average of 5.5 percent, according to the latest data.

But Hubei province’s GDP jumped by 5.6 percent, and it is one of only three provinces that logged higher than average growth. Together, the three provinces' gross domestic product grossed CNY6.7 trillion (USD917.6 billion) over the period.

There is too much homogenous competition between the three neighboring provinces and not enough co-operation, Ye Qing, a regional economy expert and an academic committee member of Pangoal Institution, told Yicai Global.

They are not part of a regional economic hub, such as the Yangtze River Delta region, which encompasses Shanghai and the surrounding area, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region or the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Rather they are developing independently and this is a drag on the competitiveness of the economy in central China.

The three provinces lag behind other developed regions in terms of the depth and intensity of their collaborations on development, said Qin Zunwen, deputy chairman of the China Society of Urban Economy and secretary general of the Yangtze River Economic Belt Think Tank Alliance.

In the second quarter, Jiangxi province’s pace of economic growth was 1.2 percentage points higher than in the first quarter, indicating an obvious improvement, but still far from this year’s target of 7 percent. While Hunan province’s GDP increased 4.1 percent in the first quarter but slowed to 3.6 percent in the first half.

The potential of Hubei province’s Ezhou Huahu Airport in trade and logistics has not been fully tapped, Qin said. As Asia’s largest cargo airport, the airport should serve the entire Yangtze River economic belt and these three provinces should be prioritized.

Some cities in Jiangxi and Hunan provinces are closer to the airport than parts of Hubei province, Qin said. High value-added products made in these cities can be exported by air to help the manufacturing sector in central China go global, he added.

Editor: Kim Taylor