Abstract: Upon its founding in Nanjing, the National Government of the Republic of China was trying to eliminate the substantial forces of all localities to achieve the unity of China while the local authorities were strengthening their internal construction in order to enhance their strength and to deal with the central government for a long time. From 1929 to 1937, Long Yun carried out his reform and construction in Yunnan and made remarkable progress in politics,economy and culture,and strengthened the cohesion within the ruling body. On this basis, Long Yun dealt with the national government and maintained his ruling in Yunnan for 18 years when most other local powers in the surrounding areas were destroyed, which revealed the importance of regional construction to the survival and development of the warlord groups. However,the regional construction led by Long Yun was carried out at the time when China was divided by warlords and surrounded by powerful enemies, so it had a strong military characteristics. But this is key to survival under that environment, which is the inevitable limitations of regional construction in that era.

Key words: warlord politics, regional construction, Long Yun, Yunnan, regional integration