City is a center of regional economic development. City and the region around it aremutually attracted: city needs the support of the region and regional development depends onradiation of urban functions, particularly economic function. This paper reviews the advantagesof economic radiation in Xiamen special economic zone and the evaluation of inward and out-ward radiation in the development of the city. The energyl levels, hinterland and the basic fea-tures of radiation flow are studied. Four aspects of the development of Xiamen are give out:(1) strenghening the comprehensive function of Xiamen to develop a modern city; (2) speed-ing the construction of Xiamen harbour to improve the comprehensive transportation; (3) im-proving the urban infrastruction and investment environment; (4) developing a city agglomera-tion and taking Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou as core area.