AGGLOMERATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF BEARING ENTERPRISES IN WAFANGDIAN CITY
GAO Xiao-na1,2, MA Yan-ji1
1. Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130012, China;
2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Abstract There exist over 300 bearing enterprises in Wafangdian City, one of the bearing industry bases of China, including ZWZ Group which is one of three largest bearing enterprises in China. Bearing industry here is largely and fleetly developing, and is driven by both the large enterprise's development and radiation and small and medium enterprises' agglomeration. It takes longer time to keep on getting benefits from gather and scale for the enterprises agglomeration, so whether the development of enterprises agglomeration is sustainable will directly influence the regional economic development. Based on the investigation of 18 enterprises, this paper studies the driving factors, evolving pattern and developing process of bearing enterprises' agglomeration, and makes measures for the sustainable development of the agglomeration. The relationships among bearing enterprises here are now harmonious. The development environment of bearing industry is favorable, too. Furthermore, the paper finds that the only advantage of the trade is price, but most enterprises lack human resources. Besides, the advantages of old industrial base, the policy support from the government and the benign competition among enterprises, some other soft settings and human factors are becoming more and more important in its sustainable development. The other soft settings and human factors include the market-oriented circulating mechanism of enterprises, the technology innovation and enough labors. The agglomeration of bearing enterprises in Wafangdian is driven by spatial extension of ZWZ Group and the development of small and medium enterprises. In spatial pattern, the bearing enterprises are clustered along the Gongji Street via cooperation and competition. Finally, the paper concludes that the sustainable development of regional economy does not just depend on new industries, and most traditional industries in Northeast China are still important. In order to achieve regional sustainable development, the government should give more policy supports and introduce more science & technology talents.
2009, Vol. 24 
