Economic reforms and regional development in coastal China

Abstract

Scholars disagree over the consequences of economic reforms on regional inequality in China. This article has found that dramatic disparities exist among the provinces in China's coastal region. While coastal provinces like Jiangsu have experienced dramatic growth, the relative position of Liaoning has declined, and Shanghai has experienced a decline and a recent recovery. These changing patterns of growth have contributed to the decline of interprovincial inequality, but led to the rise of the coast-interior divide in China. The analysis of the diverse coastal provinces is critical to improve the understanding of regional inequality in China.