Governance across Borders: Lessons for China from Trans-border Integration in the European Union

Abstract

Steps are currently being taken to enhance economic and political integration across the various borders that divide Hong Kong and Macau from the Guangdong parts of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in southern China. As China's experience with integration of this kind is limited, the article looks for lessons to the European Union (EU), where such experience is extensive. It argues that the benefits of trans-border integration do not accrue automatically to the participating regions, but need to be secured through active governance operating in tandem with private-sector initiatives. It further argues that the strategies adopted in the EU have often been too limited, notably in failing to address the interests of strong member states. For regional integration to succeed in the PRD, parochial interests must be overcome, so that strategic benefits for the PRD as a whole can be secured. In this regard, the forceful role played by the central government in Beijing in the summer of 2003 was critical. Looking to the future, it may be necessary to create a pan-regional forum to institutionalize recent integrationist moves.