Urbanization and disparities in China: challenges of growth and development

Abstract

Economic growth and development in China have been extraordinary. Accompanying the development, however, have emerged or become more acute problems that challenge the sustainability of the growth. The disparities between China’s coastal and hinterland regions, between the rural and urban sectors, and among individuals within each sector are among these problems. Regionally, China’s eastern and coastal provinces and municipalities have developed at a faster pace than its interior counterparts, leading to a severe disparity. As shown in Table 1, the top 10 provinces and municipalities with the highest per capita GDP are mostly from the eastern and coastal region, and those below top 10 are mostly from the hinterland region. Moreover, the severity of disparity is alarming: the highest per capita GDP in Shanghai, among the 31 units listed, is 9.65 times the lowest level in Guizhou. Furthermore, the western region had the highest concentration of urban poverty, and the income gap between the region and rest of China had widened over time (as will be shown by Fang, Zhang, and Fan in this symposium). The urban–rural income disparity in China has also widened compared with the situation in 1978. As shown in Table 2, the per capita urban disposable income as multiple of per capita rural net income in 1978 was 2.57 and became 2.79 in 2000. The slower growth, in 14