Development Models and Industrial Upgrading in China and Mexico

Abstract

China and Mexico have both pursued export-oriented development strategies in the global economy, but with different implications for national development and industrial upgrading. While Mexico has been the paradigm for the neoliberal (‘Washington consensus’) development model associated with foreign direct investment, extensive privatization, and open markets, China has attained record levels of foreign capital inflows and export growth utilizing a more strategic, statist approach to its development. In the past decade, China has surpassed Mexico in their battle for pre-eminence in the US market. One of the keys to China’s success has been a unique form of industrial organization called supply-chain cities, which has permitted it to achieve both economies of scale and scope in global value chains.