Diverse Patterns of Paradiplomacy by Chinese Local Governments: A Comparative Case Study of Zhejiang and Yunnan Provinces

Abstract

ABSTRACT The development in Chinese paradiplomacy in the reform period has attracted scholarly attention, especially from the perspective of central–local interactions. However, there was a lack of detailed inquiry about the diversity in paradiplomacy conducted by different provinces. This article seeks to fill the gap by exploring the diversity in Chinese paradiplomacy and the variables leading to such phenomenon. By conducting a comparative case study of the two provinces, Zhejiang and Yunnan, this article argues that variables at both national and subnational levels jointly determined the paradiplomatic activities of the two provinces, which displayed significant variations. At the national level, the timing of opening up and the detailed arrangements of national policies for the two provinces played important roles in deciding the paradiplomacy of the two provinces. At the provincial level, variables including geography, provincial resources and international linkages were responsible for paradiplomatic activities. In most cases, variables at these two levels were mutually enhanced. As a result, Zhejiang developed a globalized economic-oriented model of paradiplomacy, and Yunnan preferred a regional model of paradiplomacy, which was able to served Yunnan’s inward-looking aim—improving the status of the province domestically and obtaining benefits from the central government.