Regional Inequality In China

As regional inequality looms large in the policy debate in China, this volume brings together a selection of papers from authors whose work has had real impact on policy, so that researchers and policy makers can have access to them in one place.

China’s spectacular growth and poverty reduction has been accompanied by growing inequality which threatens the social compact and thus the political basis for economic growth. Chinese policy makers have realized the importance of the problem and have launched a series of investigations and policy initiatives to address the issues. The regional dimension of inequality—rural/urban and inland/coastal—dominates in a country as large as China, and especially with its particular history. Not surprisingly, regional inequality has come to loom large in the policy debate in China. The policy debate has been informed by, and to some extent instigated by, a parallel analytical literature which has quantified the magnitude of the problem and identified recent trends, offered explanations based on rigorous analysis, and proposed policy interventions in light of the facts and understanding. Through a series of articles which have been published in leading journals, the editors have been involved in a systematic investigation into the nature and evolution of regional inequality in China for over a decade.

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.

This volume provides comprehensive, up to date coverage of inequality and poverty issues in China. Going beyond standard data sources and using state-of-art research techniques, this volume substantiates a number of findings and conclusions and ensures policy recommendations are reliable and robust.

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".

The high level of inequality in China has been a focus of interest for policy makers and researchers. However, few studies have evaluated the trend since 2010. With changes in the economic structure and new policy tools introduced in recent years, a revisit of Chinese inequality should give us the latest information about its evolution and the impacts of these economic and policy changes on income distribution. This paper argues that after a quarter century of sharp and sustained increase, Chinese inequality is now plateauing and even turning down. The argument is made using a range of data sources and a range of measures and perspectives on inequality. The evolution of inequality is further examined through decomposition by income source and population subgroup. Some preliminary explanations are provided for these trends in terms of shifts in policy and the structural transformation of the Chinese economy. The narrative on Chinese inequality now needs to focus on the reasons for this great turnaround.