Regionalisation and integration in China: Lessons from the transformation of the beef industry

摘要

Regional development has been a major component of China's effort to modernise its economy, The major challenge for the Chinese central government is to ensure that regional development and specialisation leads to widespread prosperity for all regions, rather than deepening income disparity across regions. The question is: should regions pursue economic activities independently of, or integrated with, other regions? On the one hand, the transfer of power from the state to the market has encouraged regional specialisation, interregional trade and integration. On the other hand, the increased power of regional governments has provided them with incentives to pursue economic activities independently of other regions. This book investigates the process, and extent, of regionalisation in China using the beef industry as a case study.