5 Conclusions

The main purpose of this paper is to examine whether natural resources have some impact on regional economic development. The regressions of both GDP per capita and growth rate demonstrate that although in some cases they do, the role of natural resources can by no means be overstated. The argument attributing slower development in some parts in China to resource constraints is not supported, nor is the natural resources curse. Natural resources play only a minor role in advancing the economic performance in the current development stage. Also, the traditional view that the improvement in infrastructure is an effective means to making less developed areas richer is no longer guaranteed, and increasing education level has an only growth effect without level effect. The most significant finding is that while the market reform and opening have been progressing for 30 years, they are still the most prominent contributing factors for economic prosperity and growth. They are the fundamental forces to overcome resource scarcity, to mobilize productive factors from various groups of participants in infrastructure construction, to stimulate investment in human resources, and to achieve long-run economic development.