China ’s Special Economic Zones Research Articles

Place-based policies and local human capital accumulation: Evidence from China's special economic zone program

This paper examines the effects of a prominent place-based policies in China, special economic zones (SEZs), on human capital accumulation. Using a cohort difference-in-differences (DID) analysis and population census data, we find that exposure to the SEZ program led to an average increase of 0.14 years of education. Further investigation reveals that increases in educational expenses and inflow of highly educated talent are important factors in human capital improvement. We also find that the effects are only significant for females and senior high school education.

The Path to Optimize the Authorized Legislative Power of Special Economic Zones

The authorized legislative system of China’s special economic zones has provided strong support for the successful implementation of reform and opening up. However, with the vigorous development of the special economic zone economy, the authorized legislative power of special economic zones also faces a series of opportunities and challenges, involving key issues such as power boundaries, legal frameworks, and scope definition. This study focuses on the legitimacy analysis of the authorization decisions made by the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee, the legitimacy analysis of the authorization of the National People’s Congress to formulate regulations by the government of special economic zones, as well as the review and supervision of the authorized legislation of special economic zones. It explores the enhancement and prospects of legislative authority in Special Economic Zones, aiming to establish a theoretical foundation for the standardization of the legislative power of special economic zones in China, promote the establishment of legal frameworks and the sustained prosperity of special economic zones.

Old Wine in a New Bottle: Understanding the Expansion of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in China

Old Wine in a New Bottle: Understanding the Expansion of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in China

Multi-scenario simulation of land use and land cover based on shared socioeconomic pathways: The case of coastal special economic zones in China

Urban land-use change simulations without considering the sustainable planning policies, especially in special economic park highly concerned by planners, might lack the reliability and availability. Thus, this study proposes a novel planning support systems integrating the Cellular Automata Markov chain model and Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (CA-Markov-SSPs) for predicting the changing of land use and land cover (LULC) at the local and system level by using a novel machine learning-driven, multi-source spatial data modelling framework. Using multi-source satellite data of coastal special economic zones from 2000 to 2020 as a sample, calibration validation based on the kappa indicates a highest average reliability above 0.96 from 2015 to 2020, and the cultivated land and built-up land classes of LULC is the most significant changes in 2030 by using the transition matrix of probabilities, the other classes except water bodies continue to increase. And the non-sustainable development scenario can be prevented by the multiple level collaboration of socio-economic factors. This research intended to help decision makers to confine irrational urban expansion and achieve the sustainable development.

Analysis of regional financial risks in Shenzhen, China

Financial risks are characterized by complexity, concealment, abruptness, infectivity and harmfulness. In the 40 years since the establishment of China's Special Economic Zone, Shenzhen's financial industry has become the third largest financial center on the mainland. At present, the financial industry has developed into one of the four pillar industries in Shenzhen. The significance of this paper is to explore and evaluate the regional financial risks in Shenzhen, and put forward targeted suggestions for Shenzhen's banking, securities and insurance, and real estate markets according to the quantitative results. Based on the annual data of Shenzhen from 2000 to 2020, entropy weight method and CRITIC method are used to determine the weight of grading indicators. This paper proposes three innovative scenarios using Holt Winters three exponential smoothing method to predict data. Finally, the risk scoring system is constructed according to the scenario analysis results, and optimization suggestions are put forward according to the early warning results.

An empirical Analysis of Financial Ecological Environment Evaluation of Guangzhou and Shenzhen——Based on Entropy Weight Method and K-means Clustering Method

The sound development of financial ecology is conducive to the development and stability of the national economy. As special economic zones in China, the development of financial ecology in Guangzhou and Shenzhen is of reference significance. Based on the local practice, this paper uses the entropy weight method and K-means clustering method to establish an evaluation system from four aspects including economic environment, financial environment, government and social security, and scientific and technological talents to evaluate the financial ecological environment of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. This paper not only compares the gap in financial ecology between the two cities horizontally, but analyzes the ecological gap between Guangzhou and Shenzhen from the perspective of longitudinal time series. Based on the empirical results, this paper provides policy suggestions on cultivating talents, strengthening supervision and strengthening cooperation for the sound development of regional financial ecology.

Ghana’s Free Zones Strategy and the “Role of China” in It

This paper explores the history of free zones in Ghana and Ghanaian policy makers’ related strategy. It looks at the “role of China” in these zones: both in terms of Chinese companies’ presence there, and in terms of reference to a “Chinese model” to develop free zones. On the one hand, the domestic success of special economic zones in China has validated this model and justified the creation of “Chinese SEZs” in a few African countries. On the other hand, despite a significant presence of Chinese investors and companies in Ghana - including one newly established Chinese industrial park - we find that China’s role in Ghanaian free zones is negligible. We attribute this finding, together with the absence of “Chinese SEZs” in Ghana, to a host of variables, including: Ghanaian leaders’ and policy-makers’ strategies, the country’s framework and trajectory with regard to free zones, the business environment, and some missed political opportunities.

Increasing entrepreneurs through green industrial parks: evidence from special economic zones in China

Increasing entrepreneurs through green industrial parks: evidence from special economic zones in China

From a Special Economic Zone to a Smart Sustainable City: The Power of Strategic Spatial Planning in Shenzhen

Nested in a centrally driven political hierarchy, planners in Shenzhen, China's first Special Economic Zone, have an onerous task in steering the city's spatial developments. They must refer not only to higher-level plans in formulating its development strategy, but also use planning to regain control of a city with vested land interests (former farmers with collectively owned land and state-owned enterprises who have been 'zone builders' from day one) in order to ful fil its role as the country's pioneering, sustainable, low-carbon, and high-tech city. The paper argues that while strategic spatial planning is quintessential to the wellbeing of people, place, and planet, one has to understand its potential and constraints through implementation and grounded evolving practices shaped by, among others, historical, economic, political, and governance factors.

Closed or connected? The economic geography of technological collaboration between special economic zones in China’s Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou metropolitan area

ABSTRACT Conceived as industry enclaves when they were originally built, China’s special economic zones (SEZs) might be thought to have few linkages to the local economy. Here we investigate whether SEZs exceed industry enclaves by bringing the literature on the geography of innovation into dialogue with that on industry enclaves. Drawing upon detailed information on the geographical boundaries of these SEZs and a database of geocoded Chinese patents, we analyse the economic geography of technological collaboration between SEZs in China’s Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou (SWC) metropolitan area. Overall, we find that: (1) enterprises in SEZs account for 55.6% of the region’s total patents and 75.4% of its co-patents; (2) knowledge linkages within and between SEZs in the SWC metropolitan area are quite limited and most of the knowledge linkages are beyond the region; and (3) there is considerable heterogeneity between SEZs in terms of their knowledge linkages, with multinational and domestic enterprises playing different roles.

A case study of distribution and characteristics of microplastics in surface water and sediments of the seas around Shenzhen, southern coastal area of China

Microplastics (MPs), known to cause environmental pollution, is attracting a growing attention worldwide owing to their extensive existence and potential risks to biota. The marginal sea areas are suspected to be especially susceptible to MPs pollution. Unfortunately, data on MPs in the surface water and sediments ecosystems are still limited, particularly in the southern coastal areas of China. The study was successfully utilized to explore the distribution and characteristics of MPs below 5 mm collected from 14 sites in the seas around Shenzhen, a typical special economic zone of China. MPs were detected in both surface water and sediments with concentrations ranging from 3.8 to 7.8 items per liter and 2.6 × 103 to 10.0 × 103 items per kilogram, respectively. The highest abundance of MPs appeared in S5/S9 and S14 in surface water and sediments, respectively. Fiber and film with small particle size (<0.5 mm) were identified as typical and abundant MPs type among all samples. In addition, polyethylene (PE) was considered as dominant forms of MPs in surface water and sediment samples. Results from this study indicated a positive correlation with abundance of MPs and urbanization rate, which also showed an evident difference of MPs in different urban functional areas. Based on the types and quantity of detected MPs, we assessed the risk of MPs pollution in this study area, and the ecological risk category of MPs was at a high level. Importantly, our work might be employed as a potential information so as to better understand MPs pollution, source tracing and ecological risk assessment, which enhances the possibility of achieving effective control and supervision of MPs pollution in southern coastal aera of China.

Human Capital Spillovers from Special Economic Zones: Evidence from Yangtze Delta in China

This paper evaluates the effects of a place-based program in the Yangtze Delta of China—Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Taking into account spatial proximity, this paper quantifies the spillover effects of the human capital in SEZs. One major finding is that regional productivity benefits from the human capital in SEZs. The spillover effects are not only confined to their own counties, but also neighboring counties. SEZs contribute more to the regional productivity of neighboring counties than the one of the hosting county itself. Moreover, positive spillover effects of the human capital in SEZs still hold for the growth of regional productivity.

The Sino-Egyptian Suez Zone of Trade and Economic Cooperation as a promising model of economic development in Africa

The object of the study is the economic development of Africa within the framework of Sino-African cooperation. The subject of the study is the development of special economic zones created by Chinese-African cooperation. The purpose of the work is to study the possibility of creating special economic zones within the framework of Sino-African cooperation as a promising model for the economic development of Africa. The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as the process of creating the Sino-Egyptian Suez Zone of trade and economic cooperation, as well as some problems existing in the functioning of the zone. Special attention is paid to the successful experience of the functioning of China's special economic zones, as well as to the analysis of the possibility of applying Chinese experience to special economic zones in Africa. In this work, the author used such methods as analysis, synthesis of information from documents, comparison, induction and deduction. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that the work compares China's special economic zones with those in Africa and analyzes the applicability of China's experience on the African continent, which gives possible promising models for the future economic development of Africa. The main conclusion of the study is a framework model for the rational development of economic zones in Africa, which includes the following elements: the choice of a location with the advantages of location for economic zones; the integration of special economic zones into a broader national policy in the field of economy, industry and urbanization, in order to prevent the transformation of special economic zones into "economic enclaves"; persistent experiments of political and administrative reforms and rapid dissemination of the successful experience gained in the economic zones throughout the country; support for the continuous development of infrastructure construction covering the economic zones and nearby cities as a catalyst for the sustainable development of the economic zones.

The prevalence and potential implications of microplastic contamination in marine fishes from Xiamen Bay, China

The wide presence of microplastics (MPs) in the ocean leads their exposure on marine fish. MP contamination was reported for the gastrointestinal tracts and gills of 117 marine fishes attributed to nine species from Xiamen Bay, a special economic zone in China. Among species, MP abundance ranged from 1.07 items individual−1 to 8.00 items individual −1. Fibers dominated MP shapes, accounting for 59.03% of all MPs. Polymer composition was dominated by polyamide (26.97%) and rayon (17.56%). MPs were most commonly (55.22%) transparent, and most (77.61%) were < 1 mm in size. Our report represents the first of MP contamination in wild marine fish from Xiamen Bay, which we determine to be at an intermediate to slightly higher level compared with levels reported elsewhere, and provides further insights into potential risks of MPs pose to fish and human health.

Decomposition of Industrial Electricity Efficiency and Electricity-Saving Potential of Special Economic Zones in China Considering the Heterogeneity of Administrative Hierarchy and Regional Location

Special Economic Zones (SEZs), an important engine of industrial economic development in China, consume large amounts of energy resources and emit considerable CO2. However, existing research pays little attention to industrial energy usage in SEZs and ignores the heterogeneity of administrative hierarchy and regional location. Considering the dual heterogeneity, this study proposes an improved two-dimension and two-level meta-frontier data envelopment analytical model to decompose the industrial electricity efficiency (IEE) and electricity-saving potential of SEZs in Guizhou Province, China, based on 4-year field survey data (2016–2019). Results show that the IEE rankings of three administrative hierarchies within SEZs are provincial administration SEZs, county administration SEZs, and municipality administration SEZs. The SEZs located in energy resource-rich areas and better ecological environmental areas have higher IEE than those in resource-poor areas and ecology fragile areas, respectively. This study can provide reference for policymakers to formulate effective policies for improving the electricity use efficiency of SEZs in China.

Job creation or job relocation? Identifying the impact of China's special economic zones on local employment and industrial agglomeration

Since the early 1980s, special economic zones (SEZs) in China have benefited from targeted place-based policies intended to promote local employment and economic growth. What remain poorly understood is whether SEZs serve to give birth to new firms, or rather attract and support the re-establishment of firms from other places. To address this question, this paper examines the impact of SEZs on employment growth in rural counties in China. Using ASIF panel data representing the activity of manufacturing firms for the period 1999 to 2008, this paper assesses the employment effects of SEZs according to firm births, relocation, expansion, and firm closure. By matching counties with future SEZs as comparison groups, the difference-in-differences estimates show that SEZs significantly increase employment in rural counties due to the creation of new firms and the expansion of existing large firms; in contrast, SEZs fail to promote firms to move in and restrain firms from moving out. Further, data analysis reveals significant regional heterogeneity, with the employment effects of SEZs on firm entry strongest for the eastern coastal region. Finally, we confirm that SEZs tend to reduce local industrial agglomeration in the eastern and central regions.

Changing Population Exposure to Pollution in China’s Special Economic Zones

Martin and Zhang (2020) show that the increase in manufacturing output in China's special economic zones significantly increased air pollution. In this complementary paper, we document that widespread migration into these industrial clusters between 2000 and 2010 did little to change overall population exposure to pollution. We show using satellite air pollution data that there is much heterogeneity across zones and that most population growth occurred in relatively cleaner zones, supporting recent literature that documents local willingness to make location decisions based on environmental quality (Chen et al. 2019, Khanna et al. 2020).

China s Special Economic Zones, Hainan Province New Free Trade Zone: Review of Policies that Minimize the Regional Gap

This research article begins with the illustration of China’s special economic zone and regional inequity. We concluded that the decision to make Hainan free trade zone is one of the concrete step for the country to strengthen international trade and investment. However, shorten the negative list of foreign investment, can help to facilitate and attract the overseas investment. Until the attempt of special regional policies, the catching up and transformation did succeed in achieving the purpose of increase the development of the special economic zones, for this reason the coastal area advantages disproportionately. The Western Development policy that made better prosperous environment for foreign capitals in the western provinces did not show substantial absolute impact on encourages the growth and development in this region so far. The solution to this growing problem is to increase more special economic zones in China with regard to captivate foreign direct investment and stimulate the economy.

Evaluation Method of Customs' Price Evaluation Risks in China's Coastal Special Economic Zones

Dai, H. and Yin, W., 2020. Evaluation method of customs' price evaluation risks in China's coastal special economic zones. In: Yang, Y.; Mi, C.; Zhao, L., and Lam, S. (eds.), Global Topics and New Trends in Coastal Research: Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 103, pp. 151–154. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The traditional Chinese coastal special economic zone customs price assessment risk assessment method has a large evaluation error. To this end, a method for assessing the customs valuation risk of China's coastal special economic zones is designed. Collecting relevant data on customs price evaluation in China's coastal special economic zones, determining risk factors for customs price evaluation in China's coastal special economic zones, calculating risk index weights for each indicator, and using a weighted average fuzzy synthesis calculation method to comprehensively evaluate customs price evaluation risks in China's coastal special economic zones. The experimental comparison results show that this design of the China coastal special economic zone customs' price assessment risk assessment method has less error than traditional methods, and can be applied to the actual China coastal special economic zone customs price assessment risk assessment.

Comparing the spatial and temporal dynamics of urban expansion in Guangzhou and Shenzhen from 1975 to 2015: A case study of pioneer cities in China’s rapid urbanization

The distinct urbanization process of China has attracted worldwide attention because of its impressive speed, massive scale, and policy intervention. However, the interrelationship between urban expansion and government policies is still not well understood. The Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration of China is the first national pioneering urbanization area since the implementation of the policy “Reform and Opening-up” in the late 1970s. Here we compared the spatial and temporal patterns of urbanization in two leading cities of the Pearl River Delta (i.e., Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the provincial capital and the first Special Economic Zone of China, respectively) from 1975 to 2015, using Landsat data integrated with urban growth and landscape metrics analysis, and examined possible footprints of major economic and urbanization policies. Our results illustrated that urban land areas in both Guangzhou and Shenzhen have experienced magnificent annual growth rates at 8.1% and 11%, respectively between 1975 and 2015. On average, Shenzhen witnessed substantially higher urban growth rate than Guangzhou during the past four decades, particularly in the initial period (1978–1990) when the Reform and Opening-up policy was launched and Shenzhen was designated as the first Special Economic Zone in China in the late 1970s. However, the speed of urban expansion in Shenzhen became considerably lower than Guangzhou from 2005 to 2015, subject to physical conditions and a series of urban land use policies. Both cities showed a generally similar dynamics of urban growth forms with leapfrogging as the predominant type of urban growth at first and then edge-expansion while the contribution of infilling in Shenzhen was higher than that in Guangzhou, especially since 2005. The urbanization processes characterized by landscape and urban growth metrics revealed that a diffusion-coalescence-diffusion-coalescence process was identified for Guangzhou, while Shenzhen was generally consistent with the diffusion-coalescence urban growth hypothesis.