Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Jiangsu (1.8) - both close to Shanghai - followed by Gangdong (1.8)
close to Hong Kong, and then the coastal regions close to the main cities
of Fujian (1.6), Liaoning (1.6), and Shandong (1.4) (Golley 2007). These
ratios imply that the dominant cities currently exhibit GDP per capita
levels which are approximately 13 times those of the lowest regions (Fujita
2007b).
If the three major city-regions of Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin are left
outside, then the increase in regional inequality across China is noticeably
reduced, whereas if we group together all of the coastal regions, includ-
ing the major city-regions, then regional inequality between the coastal
and interior regions of China increases even more dramatically (Golley
2007). This demonstrates the role played by particular city-regions in the
dramatic growth of China over the last two decades. In 2000, the coastal
region between Beijing and Hong Kong as a whole produced 71 per cent of
China's total industrial output. This enormous production accounted for
more than 60 per cent of national output in all but two sectors, and at least
80 per cent in almost half of the industry sectors, including 97 per cent of
China's cultural, educational and sports (Golley 2007). Thus, the growth
of China is largely a coastal phenomenon. However, even within the
coastal region of China there is a core region, which consists of the South
East areas adjacent or close to the major cities and represents broadly a
territorial arc bounded by Shanghai and Hong Kong (Golley 2007).
As expected on the basis of our earlier arguments, growing interregional
inequality is now a general phenomenon in China. In terms of economic
geography, the increasing growth and wealth of certain regions is also
strongly associated with the increasing agglomeration of activities in these
regions. Once again, this is predicted by economic geography arguments.
The core regions of the South East are not only the fastest per capita
growth regions, but they are also those of the most rapidly increasing
agglomeration. Golley (2007) calculates that, between 1989 and 2000, 26
out of 28 major manufacturing and industrial sectors have become more
spatially concentrated, as reflected by increasing spatial Gini coefficients.
As such, the general trend towards increasing intra-national inequality
apparent across many countries is strikingly manifest also in China.
Regional economic restructuring in China has meant that poverty reduc-
tion since the mid-1980s has been most dramatic in the eastern regions,
followed by the central regions, with poverty increases in the western
regions (Angang et al. 2005). However, this is not just an urban phenom-
enon. The ratio of per capita farming incomes in the eastern and central
regions relative to the West of the country has also increased between 1980
and 2000, from 1.27 and 1.05 to 1.92 and 1.30, respectively (Angang et al.
2005). Unsurprisingly, the areas of highest growth are broadly the regions
