以新中国成立以来50年为背景,以近20年为学科发展的重点时期,回顾和总结了经济地理学理论发展的4个时段及阶段性特点和历史贡献;对当代中国经济地理学理论进行了框架性的透视,并指出其主要有一个核心、两个方向、双重属性、三大领域、以及“产业结构网络论”、“劳动地域分工论”、“经济地域运动论”三大基础理论,和“条件论”、“产业要素论”、“结构与功能论”、“体系与类型论”、“地缘关系论”等多个分支理论。其中,三大基础理论是支撑学科的主线,相对比较稳定。而其它分支理论,则因研究内容的伸缩而变化,具有鲜明的时代特点,是不稳定的;论文同时还前瞻性地指出了经济地理学理论发展的四个前沿趋势。即:学科的离心倾向和回归趋势、产业经济地理学的复苏趋势、地缘经济理论研究走强趋势、区域开发与区域形象设计热点趋势。

This paper reviews and summaries the four stages of economic geography development, and the features and contributions in each period in the last 50 years, emphasizing on the recent two decades. And also, it analyzes the framework of current Chinese economic geographic theory, and points out that this subject consists of one core, two directions, dual characters, three fields, three basic theories-industrial structure network theory, regional division of work theory and economic region movement theory, and such branch theories as condition theory, industrial factors theory, structure and function theory, and geo-relation theory. The three basic theories are the supporting skeleton of this subject, being relative stable, while the branch theories vary according to the elasticity of its study substance, being relative unstable, owning clear time characters. Finally, this paper points out four trends of economic geographic theory development, namely, "centrifuge" and "return" of the subject, resuscitation of industrial economic geography, the strengthening of the research on geopolitical and geoeconomic theory, and hot spot of regional development and regional image design.