*2.3. Economic Development Data of Jiangsu Province*

In this study, 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province are taken as the research units. Data from the *Jiangsu Statistical Yearbook 2019 and 2020* (http://tj.jiangsu.gov.cn/col/ col80733/index.html, accessed on 1 March 2022) and the website of the National Bureau of Statistics (http://www.stats.gov.cn/, accessed on 1 March 2022), and the statistical bulletins of national economic and social developments of cities in Jiangsu (http://www. tjcn.org/tjgb/10js/, accessed on 5 March 2022) are used in the study. The 13 prefecture-level

cities in Jiangsu are divided into three parts: southern Jiangsu (including Nanjing, Wuxi, Changzhou, Suzhou and Zhenjiang), central Jiangsu (Nantong, Yangzhou and Taizhou) and northern Jiangsu (Xuzhou, Lianyungang, Huai'an, Yancheng and Suqian).
