China has been transforming from a rural to an urban economy over the past century, especially since 1978 when economic reforms were initiated and rapid economic growth began. This paper attempts to investigate what factors contributed to the rising urbanisation in the period 1978-2000, based on time-series and cross-section analyses. We find that the main driving-forces behind urbanisation, besides changes in urban policy, are economic growth, structural changes and especially inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI). The causal link runs from economic growth to urbanisation and not vice versa. FDI inflows contribute greatly to the coast-inland differences in the rate of urbanisation. Geographical and historical factors have a significant impact on regional urbanisation levels and a high initial level of urbanisation curtails a province's subsequent urban growth.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Chang, G.H. and Brada, J.C. (2002) China's urbanization lag during the period of reforms: a paradox. Working paper, University of Toledo and Arizona State University.
2.
Chang, K.-S. (1994) Chinese urbanization and development before and after economic reform: a comparative reappraisal, World Development , 22(4), pp. 601-613.
3.
Gripaios, P., Gripaios, R. and Munday, M. (1997) The role of inward investment in urban economic development: the cases of Bristol, Cardiff and Plymouth, Urban Studies, 34(4), pp.579-603.
4.
Hamer, A.M. and Linn, J.F. (1987) Urbanization in the developing world: patterns, issues, and policy, in: E. S. Mills (Ed.) Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, vol. 2, pp. 1253-1284. Amsterdam: Elsevier-North Holland.
5.
Hu, Z. (2000) Regional Development in China. Beijng: Peking University Press.
6.
International Monetary Fund (2001) International Financial Statistics Yearbook 2001. Washington, DC: IMF.
7.
Kojima, R. (1995) Urbanization in China, The Developing Economies, 33(2), pp. 121-154.
8.
Lardy, N.R. (2002) Integrating China into the Global Economy. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press .
9.
Lewis, W.A. (1977) The Evolution of the International Economic Order . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
10.
Lin, G.C.S. (2001) Metropolitan development in a transitional socialist economy: spatial restructuring in the Pearl River Delta, China, Urban Studies, 38(3), pp. 383-406.
11.
Markusen, J. and Venables, A. (1999) Foreign direct investment as a catalyst for industrial development, European Economic Review, 43(2), pp. 335-356.
12.
Mills, E.S. and Becker, C.M. (1986) Studies in Indian Urban Development. New York: Oxford University Press.
13.
Sit, V.F.S. (2001) Globalization, foreign direct investment, and urbanization in developing countries, in: S. Yusuf , S, Evett and W. Wu (Eds) Facets of globalization: international and local dimensions of development, pp. 11-45. Discussion Paper No. 415, World Bank, Washington, DC.
14.
Sit, V.F.S. and Yang C. (1997) Foreign-investment-induced exo-urbanisation in the Pear River Delta, China, Urban Studies, 34(4), pp. 647-677.
15.
Song, F. and Timberlake, M. (1996) Chinese urbanization, state policy, and the world economy, Journal of Urban Affairs, 18(3), pp. 285-306.
16.
Song, S. and Zhang, K.H. (2002) Urbanization and city-size distribution in China, UrbanStudies, 39, pp. 2317-2327.
17.
Ssb (State Statistical Bureau Of China) (1982 ) 1982 Population Census of China. Beijing : China Statistical Press.
18.
Ssb (State Statistical Bureau Of China) (1990 ) Tabulation on the 1990 Population Census of the People's Republic of China. Beijing: China Statistical Press.
19.
Ssb (State Statistical Bureau Of China) (1995 , 2000 and 2001) China Statistical Yearbook 1995, 2000 and 2001. Beijing: China Statistical Press.
20.
Ssb (State Statistical Bureau Of China) (1996 ) China Regional Economy: A Profile of 17 Years of Reform and Opening-up. Beijing: China Statistical Press.
21.
Ssb (State Statistical Bureau Of China) (1999 ) Comprehensive Statistical Data and Materials on 50 Years of New China. Beijing: China Statistical Press.
22.
Wang, Z. and Swain, N. (1995) The determinants of foreign direct investment in transforming countries: empirical evidence from Hungary and China, Weltwirtschaftsliches Archiv, 131(2), pp. 359-382.
23.
Williamson, J.G. (1988) Migration and urbanization, in: H. Chenery and T. N. Srinivasan (Eds) Handbook of Development Economics, vol. 1, pp.425-465. Amsterdam: Elsevier-North Holland.
24.
World Bank (1997) China 2020: Development Challenges in the New Century . Washington, DC: World Bank.
25.
Wu, H.X. (1994) Rural to urban migration in the People's Republic of China, China Quarterly, 139(September), pp. 669-698.
26.
Zhang, K.H. (2001a) What explains the boom of foreign direct investment in China, Economia Internazionale/International Economics , 54(2), pp.251-274.
27.
Zhang, K.H. (2001b) How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth in China?, Economics of Transition, 9(3), pp. 679-693.
28.
Zhang, K.H. and Markusen, J. (1999) Vertical multinationals and host-country characteristics , Journal of Development Economics, 59, pp.233-252.
29.
Zhang, K.H. and Song, S. (2000) Promoting exports: the role of inward FDI in China , China Economic Review, 11(4), pp. 385-396.
30.
Zhang, K.H. and Song, S. (2002) Rural-urban migration and urbanization in China: evidence from time-series and cross-section analyses, China Economic Review (forthcoming).
31.
Zhang, L. and Zhao, S.X.B. (1998) Re-examining China's 'urban' concept and the level of urbanization, China Quarterly, 154(June), pp. 330-381.
