From Local State Corporatism to Land Revenue Regime: Urbanization and the Recent Transition of Rural Industry inChina

Abstract

This paper examines the transition of rural industry in China, particularly changes in the recent decade following the privatization of collective enterprises. Based on fieldwork in aJiangsu county and drawing on national data, the author shows that rapid urbanization has fundamentally altered the nature of rural industry, with previous village‐based rural enterprises replaced by large industrial corporations and urban real estate. While urbanization seems to many an inevitable outcome of economic development, this paper argues and shows that the current form of urbanization inChina has been driven by an unsustainable accumulation regime that prioritizes the needs of local revenue, real estate development and large capital at the expense of the previous broad‐based rural industry. This is thrown into sharp relief by comparing with the accumulation regime based on local state corporatism during the early reform period.