本文认为随着世界政治经济格局的深刻变化和世界经济一体化、区域集团化的飞速发展,区域经济地理学作为我国地理科学中的一门年轻学科,正处于深刻的变革之中。在新的21世纪中,学科发展面临着重大挑战,同时也面临着发展的重要机遇,要实现学科的创新与发展,关键在于如何深刻认识与处理学科发展面临的相关学科的挑战、继承与创新、理论与实践相结合等几个重大问题。最后,本文提出了区域经济地理学科的四个发展趋势。

The paper considered that the Regional Economic Geography, a young discipline in the system of Geographical Science in China, is now in a deep transformation with the great political and economic changes, the quick development of economic integration and regional collectivization of the World. Since 1950s, first of all, the discipline began to break the fetters of traditional conceptions, such as narrow senses of theory of man land relationship and some theories from former Soviet Union, developed the discipline along the direction of borderline subject. Secondly, the discipline began to break some traditional research models and strengthen the ideas oriented regional development, and expand research fields step by step. Thirdly, the discipline innovated the theories and methodologies continually-inquiring into new theory system based on traditional theories, absorbing and digesting useful theories of related disciplines formed after the World War II, and importing new technologies such as computer technologies besides some useful traditional philosophical ideas. Regional Economic Geography in China is faced with a great challenge as well as an important developing chance in the 21st century with the developments and changes of time and space conditions. In order to achieve the innovation and great development of the discipline in the future, the authors considered the key is how to recognize and deal with several great problems the discipline faced with. First of all, how to cognize the challenges of the related new or old domestic and abroad disciplines for the discipline. Secondly, how to solve the problems of inheriting and innovation for the discipline. Thirdly, how to solve the problems of the connections between theories and practices for the discipline. In the end, the paper put forward four trends of Regional Economic Geography. First, we must strengthen the important roles of Regional Economic Geography in the education and pay a great attention to modern educational methods, such as multimedia education, long-distance and network education oriented multi-level education. Secondly, we should enhance the construction of the theories step by step closely connect with practices. Thirdly, we should further blend traditional geographical researches with economic researches in the development of the discipline. And fourthly, we should go a further step to compile traditional geographical methodologies with new technical and methodologies.