Recently, a list evaluating the prospects of Chinese cities has gone viral. In light of such indicators as “three high-speed railways minimum,” “population influx,” “deposits per capita” and “educational resources,” Changchun, Dalian, Nanchang, Wenzhou and Lanzhou were rated as cities with the gloomiest prospects.

In response, many scholars noted that the regional imbalance will take on new characteristics in light of the ongoing transition taking place in the Chinese economy, but many of the cities listed have their own unique advantages. The long-term vitality of the Chinese economy will provide a fundamental basis for converting the disparities into potential.

It is well known that examinations are a direct way to test whether learners have grasped the knowledge of a certain field or not. However, it is myopic to declare a student who performed poorly in some examinations to be hopeless. People and things change after all.

Stressing the multiple dimensions available for evaluating the economic development of a city or region, Wei Houkai, vice-president of the China Society of Urban Economy, said that results will vary greatly if the criteria are different, pointing to the need to choose indicators and distribute weight scientifically.

“Even if it is a rigorous evaluation system, the result is for reference only and does not necessarily represent the actual situation,” Wei said. “In fact, population flow, high-speed railway layout and educational resources couldn't reflect the whole picture, so the result is incomplete.”

Compared to first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, most of the less-valued cities face such problems as traffic inconvenience, net population outflow, high pressure of economic transformation and many institutional obstacles. Some of the reasons are historical, while some are new problems caused by economic transition.

Analyzing the development of Changchun in Northeast China’s Jilin Province, Ding Zhaoyong, an associate professor of economics at Jilin University, said that Northeast China was the last region to abandon the planned economy model. Employees of State-owned enterprises, fisheries and forest farms were not registered as agricultural households, Ding said, attributing the city’s low birth rate to strict requirements placed on non-agricultural residents to comply with the one-child policy.

Meanwhile, the large share of State-owned businesses has left little room for the private economy to develop. Under such conditions, labor is inclined to flow outward when State-owned institutions are unable to provide sufficient jobs, Ding added.

Where there is a gap, there is potential. Scholars maintained that many “hopeless” cities actually have their own advantages, such as a solid industry base, adjacency to developed areas, rich land resources and strong national support. A lot of them are capitalizing on the advantages and have regained momentum for growth.

For example, high-tech industries in Dalian registered an industrial added value of 10.11 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) from January to August in 2016, up 12.7 percent year on year. The increase is 9.6 percent larger than that of industry above the designated size in the city. High-tech industries have become a strong power driving the industrial growth of the port city.

It is noteworthy that Wenzhou in Southeast China’s Zhejiang Province, which is a well-known hometown of overseas Chinese, has also been labeled a declining city. Commenting on the view that “the closed network of Wenzhou people is restricting local development,” Zhang Yili, a professor from the School of Business at Wenzhou University, admitted the fact, but added that this status quo is changing.

Now, Wenzhou merchants have flooded to all parts of China, establishing themselves as capable, innovative businesspeople. The group and commodities made in Wenzhou have even gone global, while Wenzhou businessmen are gradually feeding quality global resources back to their hometown, Zhang said.

The new generation of Wenzhou entrepreneurs includes a base of overseas Chinese, a pool of overseas resources and global vision, with more focus placed on emerging fields like the Internet, finance, services, energy conservation and environmental protection. “These will be conducive to the development of Wenzhou,” Zhang said.

“From the perspective of coordinated development of regional economies, the different development levels of the above cities are not the most important. Instead, urban-rural disparities and the huge gap between megacities and medium-sized, small cities merit more attention,” Wei said.

As the Chinese economy enters the new normal of “moderate-to-high” growth, more attention should be paid to fostering and exploring the vitality of regional economies, thus maximizing their potential, he added.

Cities are a mirror of social modernization. With the global industrial structure changing dramatically, big cities are less likely to be industrial centers. On the contrary, environmentally favorable and resource-rich small and medium-sized cities will constitute a growth pole of the future economy, analysts said.

Therefore, it is more meaningful to recognize the advantages and deficiencies of related areas for reform and development purposes than simply judge whether a city “has a future or not,” they said.