This book investigates uneven regional development in China – with particular focus on the cases of Guangdong and Zheijiang provinces – which have been at the forefront of debate since Chinese economic reform. Rapid economic growth since the ‘opening-up’ of China has been accompanied by significant disparities in the regional distribution of income: this book represents one of the most recent studies to present a picture of this inequality. Built upon a multi-scale and multi-mechanism framework, it provides systematic examination of both the patterns and mechanisms of regional development and inequality in provincial China, emphasizing the effects of economic transition. Approaching from a geographical perspective, its authors consider the interplay between the local, the state, and the global forces in shaping the landscape of regional inequality in China. Extensive empirical findings will prove useful to those researching other developing countries within the frontier of globalization and economic transition. Regional Inequality in Transitional China will appeal to scholars and students of geography, economics and Chinese studies more broadly.

Rapid urbanization in China in recent decades and the challenges of social and regional integration and governance have been issues of major concern. This book explores the course of urbanization and development in China over recent decades. It considers a range of issues including urbanization, changing urban and regional systems, regional integration and governance. The book pays particular attention to the economic relations between Hong Kong and mainland China and how regional development, integration and governance unfold in the Hong Kong-Pearl River Delta region.

This book provides an analysis of the processes of micro-regionalization in East Asia within the broader context of globalization and regionalization. The author examines the specifics of corporation production and investment networks that link parts of Japan, Taiwan and China with a detailed case-study focusing on the electronics industry. Making a significant contribution to the research on regionalism and multi-level governance in East Asia, this book will appeal to those interested in international political economy and Asian studies.

Significant historical and geographical differences account for the many processes and trajectories of regional development in East Asia. These historical and geographical specificities in East Asia have prompted serious re-examination of existing theories in regional development, and in particular the "new regionalism" approach associated with such ideas as the learning region, institutional thickness, relational assets, and regional innovation system. This book brings together a group of leading researchers specializing in local and regional development in East Asian economies. Through in-depth empirical studies of specific regions and localities, these authors offer fresh and innovative perspectives on how regions evolve and develop over time in the world’s most dynamic macro-regional economy. In particular, their work points to the critical importance of local and trans-local processes in shaping regional development trajectories. The book is timely given that the debate on the nature and dynamics of regional development in both academic and policy circles has now moved on. From the earlier focus on endogenous regional assets (such as localized networks of association and trust), scholars and policymakers are now analyzing the complex relationship between economic globalization and regional change. This high calibre collection makes a significant contribution to the literature on local and regional development in Asia and provides an important resource for researchers, students, and policy makers interested in East Asia. This book was published as a special issue of Regional Studies.

By concentrating on one of the key locations of global manufacturing, this volume offers a contribution to contemporary industry studies. The rates of growth that have characterized the southern Guangdong province in the last three decades are unique, even with respect to the more general and often cited Chinese experience. But what role have governments played in these decades of growth? What are the aims and tools of industrial policies promoted in this core location of contemporary manufacturing? And what are the implications of the Guangdong experience of growth for the international debate on contemporary industry? Referencing the international debate on industrial development, specialized Chinese academic literature, official government documents, statistics and in-depth fieldwork this book offers unique view on the complex set of long-term national and local government plans and policies that have gone hand in hand with the last three decades of impressive change in this highly industrialized region. In this framework, local industrial development policy, innovation policy and migration policy are carefully analyzed as three of the main strategic interventions selected by government authorities to promote the desired gradual structural change and technological upgrading in industry. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese studies, economics and business, development policy and industrial policy. Furthermore, the volume presents stimulating material for both policy makers and entrepreneurs.

From macro and micro perspectives, this book provides a panoramic view of China's sprawling western region. China's twelve western provinces are examined through several critical thematic dimensions.

This detailed book explores and provides insights into the development and transformation of various clusters, economies and industrial sectors in East and Southeast Asia. The authors study a number of important issues including the role of information and communication technology in economic growth, an emerging biomedical cluster in South Korea, an industrial agglomeration of Taiwanese electronics firms in China, and different sectorial and regional growth models in China. They also investigate the increasing relevance of cluster policies and the need to understand them in the context of the institutional and structural transition of newly industrializing East Asian economies. The book moves on to study the technology intensity of FDI in Vietnam and the implications for economic growth and emerging clusters, as well as the origin and characteristics of foreign technology transfer in a Chinese aircraft industry cluster. Clusters and Economic Growth in Asia will greatly appeal to academics, researchers, politicians, policy planners and industrial specialists, as well as those with a specific interest in clusters and economic growth in Asian economies.

Introducing readers to the far-reaching global orientation that is now taking place in urban China, an international team of contributors describe overarching globalization through a detailed examination of the transformation of the built environment. A range of urban development processes are analyzed including urbanization, real estate development, changing landscapes, the industrial restructuring of the second-tier city, and the formation of the city-region in the context of global and local interactions. In examining city development and local practices as part of globalization processes, the global city is treated as a collection of microcosms and concrete places, overcoming the analytical tension of the dichotomy of the perceived 'East versus West' divide.

The conventional belief that all regions have equally benefited from China’s remarkable development over the last three decades is subjected to criticism in this book as Hong Yu systematically analyses the issue of regional inequality during the post-1978 period using the case of Guangdong. Guangdong is one of the key industrial centres and economic powerhouses in China and as a pioneer province, instigating economic reform as China opened up to the world, it offers an ideal focus upon which to question and enrich the Western theories of economic geography and regional disparity. Based on field research, analysis of geographic characteristics and regression models, this book illustrates how Guangdong’s impressive development record has been marred by its rising regional disparity, investigates the main causes of this disparity, and draws conclusions regarding the lessons China can learn from it. Economic Development and Inequality in China will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese economics, Chinese regional studies, economic geography and China Studies. Hong Yu is a Visiting Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore. His research interests lie in the field of regional economy. He is the author of a chapter on China’s two delta regions in the book "China and The Global Economic Crisis".