The Evolution of Regional Economic Resilience in the Old Industrial Bases in China: A Case Study of Liaoning Province, China

The economic transformation of the old industrial bases is a key research topic among geographers in China. In this paper, we propose that the concept of regional economic resilience (RER) has unique theoretical value in analyzing the economic transformation of the old industrial bases. We constructed an analytical framework and an index system and applied the conceptual tools to study the evolution of RER in the old industrial base of Liaoning Province in China, which is currently subjected to not only sudden shocks but ‘slow burn’—longer term processes of change that may nevertheless affect the regional economy. There are four main findings: first, the evolution of RER in Liaoning can be divided into four stages from 2000 to 2015. Liaoning is currently in its conservation-release period, and the next stage will be a release-reorganization period. Second, the RER of the majority of the studied cities is lower than the average value for Liaoning, and this is mainly attributed to the relatively weak vulnerability-resistance and adaptability-transformation capacity of these cities. Third, the RER levels of the 14 cities in Liaoning differ significantly. At the first level is Shenyang and Dalian, at the second level is Dandong and Yingkou, and the third level comprises the remaining cities. Fourth, regional economic resilience is mainly determined by vulnerability-resistance, which indirectly reflects Liaoning’s lack of adaptability-transformation capacity, and the ability of the region to renew or create a new development path is weak.