PRC: history of regional inequality

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to review the historical trends in the regional inequality of the PRC in the period before and after the start of the policy of reforms and opening up (1978). The history of China is characterized by regional inequality of provinces, autonomous regions and cities of central subordination of the main regions of the PRC: Eastern, Northeastern, Central and Western. Chinese researchers Wang Feng, Wang Yunhui, Gan Chunhui, Liang Longbin, Xiao Jincheng, Zhan Zhang conduct a comprehensive analysis of the causes and evolution of regional inequality before and after the start of the reform and opening policy. The consistent implementation of regional spatial transformation strategies has had a particular impact on regional inequality in China. After the founding of the PRC in 1949, industrialization was officially launched. There was a strengthening of the Eastern and North-Eastern regions, while the Central and Western parts of China lagged behind. In the mid 1960-ies taking into account the preparations for war, Mao Zedong proposed to carry out a three-line construction, which involved the placement of the main production facilities of the PRC in Central and Western China. Since the beginning of the reform and opening up policy, Chinas economic development has entered a stage of rapid growth. However, the economic growth of the territory of the PRC was extremely uneven, and the rates of economic growth in different regions varied significantly. Analysis of regional inequality indicators from 1978 to 2000 shows that 1990 marked a turning point in the evolution of regional inequality. It was not until 2003 that disproportionality in the PRC showed a downward trend.