Abstract: As a key strategic initiative by the state to support the revitalization and development of former revolutionary base areas, paired cooperation plays a crucial role in promoting coordinated regional development. Current issues in paired cooperation between key cities and former revolutionary base areas include: insufficient understanding of policies and misaligned cooperation objectives; evaluation systems that are merely superficial and a lack of incentive mechanisms; unclear criteria for pairing and the absence of dynamic adjustment mechanisms; an imbalanced structure of participating entities and insufficient social accessibility; and obstacles to interdepartmental collaboration, as well as structural shortages of talent. In response, to further advance paired cooperation among key cities in revolutionary base areas, the following policy recommendations are proposed: Accelerate the development of a policy toolkit that balances the comprehensiveness of top-level design with the innovation of specific measures; establish a long-term mechanism for paired cooperation that both innovates development models and improves the evaluation and incentive system; and promote diverse participation in paired cooperation by strengthening policy publicity and guidance while expanding avenues for collaboration among all parties.
