Economic reform and small-town development in post-Mao China : a case study of Pearl River Delta Region
Date
1992
Authors
Wu, Youwei
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Abstract
This thesis studies the impact of economic reforms on small-town development in post-Mao China through a political economy approach which emphasizes an agency and structure synthesis and the central role of the state, and applies these perspectives in a case study of small-town development in the Pearl River Delta region. It also acknowledges that both the "diffusion" concept of the modernization theory and the growth version of dependency theory highlight aspects which are partially useful for the explanation of Chinese small-town development.
China's development path in the current reform era lies somewhere between the socialist and statist models. Hierarchical organization still remains predominantly statist as the party-state firmly controls the levers of economic activity. Nevertheless, a kind of rational pragmatism has replaced ideological belief as the basis of public policy, including socialist elements to serve the peasants' interests in achieving increased income, improved living standards, and more opportunities for personal development. A favourable institutional framework has been created within which opportunities for initiative and innovation have been opened up and seized at the individual and farm household level. Under the leadership of local cadres, Chinese active agents in agricultural production, rural industrialization, and the use of the Open Door policy. They have thereby succeeded to a limited degree in shaping the process of small-town development to reflect their interests.
In short, the process of Chinese small-town development might be described as a hybrid: a localized, spontaneous, i.e. class-based, peasants' movement under the promotion of centrally directed reform policies. In certain regions of coastal China, such as the Pearl River Delta, small-town development has also benefited from the effect of diffusion from the outside world, and one can see an emerging pattern of dependent development, which is an aspect of the overall restructured world system produced by the New International Division of Labour.
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UN SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth