Remaking Development Models in Urban China ─ Beyond New Regionalism, Beyond Global Production

China’s miraculous rise has been spearheaded by selected coastal city regions, and their development models and trajectories have generated considerable scholarly attention, especially the three well-known models of industrial districts and regional development--the Sunan model, the Wenzhou model, and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) model. With increasing competition, since the early 1990s Sunan, and Suzhou in particular, has moved "beyond the Sunan model" through globalization and the infusion of global capital These regions face new challenges to embed TNCs and multi-regional enterprises (MREs), reform state institutions and develop endogenous development capacities. Although scholars have begun to challenge the orthodox notions of development models in China the problems with these models and the attempts to resolve them through restructuring have still largely escaped international scrutiny.

This book investigates the trajectories of development in China’s leading city regions, which serve as regional motors of the China miracle. Wei systematically analyzes the trajectories of regional development, the efforts of states in utilizing global and local resources, and the location and network configurations of TNCs. As such, it will enrich our understanding of the rise of China, particularly the restructuring of development models and the changing role of local states in the context of globalization.

Yehua Dennis Wei is a Professor in the Institute of Public and International Affairs and in the Department of Geography at the University of Utah, USA.