310 - 3|11 - 3|11 3|10The Great DivideChina Struggles to Keep the Hinterland in Tow Ten Years HenceA Decade after Its Launch, Beijing Re-assesses the Go West Strategy China’s hinterland conjures images of distant mountain ranges, ethnic minorities, and rural backwardness. But the high-speed economic development of China’s eastern seaboard provinces has led to such a degree of economic and social inequality that even adjacent central provinces are now regarded as hinterland. The mixed success of regional development programmes has shown that the hinterland is not only defined by remoteness and low industrialisation, but also by the limits imposed on private business and investmentread moreBeyond the Boom CoastOnly the Market Can Truly Reduce Regional Disparity in China Resolving national economic imbalances has been an important focus of China’s development strategy over the past decade. According to official sources, the Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) increased nearly 17 times between 1978 and 2008. In the same period, GDP per capita rose 12-fold. This enormous economic growth, however, has not been evenly distributed or evenly shared, for a rather limited number of provinces (and specific regions therein) have been responsible for the greatest part of the enlargement of the national economy. read more
New FrontierChina’s Hinterland is an Increasingly Attractive Investment Target  The Chinese hinterland covers over 80 per cent of China’s total land area, and accounts for just over 60 per cent of the total Chinese population. However, this vast area has only received slightly more than ten per cent of foreign direct investment flows into China to date. The coastal belt on the other hand has taken nearly 90 per cent of that investment. read moreA Matter of TrustUnderstanding the Behaviour of Small Town Consumers  There is still a China that lies beyond the razzmatazz and humdinger pace of big and medium city metropolises. It bustles along in its own, idiosyncratic manner on the other side of a metaphorical wall. This is the wall that separates the developed China from the developing China. This is where a street may be dark at night, bereft of lamp posts and neon, where there may be no electricity available for a few hours every day. read moreOn the Right TrackThe Impact of Transport Infrastructure Development on Rural China China is fast expanding transport networks into rural areas, and this is providing an important stimulus for economic growth. By the end of 2010, China’s rail network will exceed 90,000 km in length. In response to the global economic crisis, China has committed to accelerating railway development, and the total network length will surpass 120,000 km in ten years’ time. read moreAgricultural RevolutionTimes are Changing in China’s Countryside Following the abolition of the agricultural tax and the important reform of the household contract responsibility system in rural areas, the rural economy has been changing quickly. More people are moving off the land and into the cities, while those who remain are witnessing a change in farming methods and agricultural production. As China speeds up its urbanisation, rural areas and the agricultural sector face huge challenges that need to be properly addressed if the country hopes to achieve balanced, sustainable development. read more
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