Wang Ruqi1, Tao Shigui2
As real economy is the foundation of highquality economic development, its resilience is not only a must to ensure the smooth operation of economy, but also an inevitable driving force for economic transformation and upgrading in the new development pattern. Based on the data of urban China from 2011—2021, this paper uses the GMMSLSARRE model to measure the resilience of both the narrow real economy (RES1) and the broad real economy (RES2), and analyzes its overall level, spatial agglomeration characteristics and influencing factors. The results show that: (1) The overall level of RES1 and RES2 is relatively high, with over 60% of the cities having high resilience, led by provincial capital cities, those with a permanent population of 1 million or more; (2) There is a notable difference in the spatial clustering characteristics between RES1 and RES2, with RES1 exhibiting more discrete distribution features while RES2 a significant positive spatial correlation; (3) In areas with close economic ties such as the Yangtze River Delta, a collaborative development pattern as is revealed by further investigation of the spatial characteristics of RES2, has been formed where the core city helps increase the resilience of the surrounding cities, while in areas like the BeijingTianjinHebei and ChengduChongqing urban agglomerations where the gap between the core cities and others is more pronounced, the “siphon effect” is more noticeable; (4) As for testing the influencing factors, rationalization of industrial structure, human capital, innovation capability, financial development and transportation capacity can significantly enhance the resilience of the real economy, and there is a significant positive spatial spillover effect among Chinese cities real economic resilience, forming a benign interactive development pattern.