China's changing economic governance: Administrative annexation and the reorganization of local governments in the Yangtze River Delta

Abstract

ZHANG J. and WU F. (2006) China's changing economic governance: administrative annexation and the reorganization of local governments in the Yangtze River Delta, Regional Studies 40, 3–21. In the course of Chinese economic and social transition, urban and regional development is faced with more competition. Against this backdrop, regional governance is undergoing challenge and change. Whilst change in the relationship between central and local governments has been the subject of study, one major change that has been neglected, despite its great importance, occurs among the different levels of local government within the same region. This paper studies the relationships among different local governments from the perspective of administrative annexation. It describes the conflict that has occurred in the Yangtze River Delta because of the problem of administrative division as well as the large-scale annexations since 2000. Through analysis of the source of conflict between administrative divisions and the e...