Determining factors of the development of a national financial center: The case of China

This study explores, theoretically and empirically, one of the important issues of the geography of finance, namely the location of high-level financial services. Specifically, we will try to explain why foreign financial services are spatially concentrated in a particular city so as to form a national financial center in China. By reviewing various forces behind the formation of a financial center, we argue that information problems have created the need for geographic agglomeration of financial activities based on the source of information. This is true even in an era when financial markets work through sophisticated telecommunication networks. Based on a survey of the actual location of multinational corporation (MNC) regional headquarters, and through investigation of reasons for the agglomeration of these headquarters, we anticipate that Beijing, as the prime source of policy information, is more likely than other Chinese cities to be the national pre-eminent financial center when the Chinese financial markets become more open to foreign firms in the near future. This study illustrates, using China as a case study, that geography still provides strong justification of why major financial services continue to have a high degree of spatial agglomeration in particular locations, despite the fact that the electronic transmission of information has substantially reduced the friction of distance. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.postprin

Spatial restructuring of financial centers i mainland China and Hong Kong: a geography of finance perspective

The rapid progress of globalization and information technology has stimulated profound changes in the global financial landscape and attracted growing interest in the geography of finance. Although there is apparently remarkable stability in the ordering of financial centers over time, the spatial changes of regional, national, and even global financial centers are an ongoing process. The newly developed subdiscipline of the geography of finance examines and evaluates these spatial changes among financial centers. This study explores the possible changes in China's information hinterland and the spatial restructuring of financial systems in the region, including the spatial switching in importance among the financial centers of Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and the major Guangdong cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. China's landmark World Trade Organization accession will certainly have a tremendous impact on China's information hinterland and induce profound organizational and spatial restructuring of the financial systems in the region.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Disparities between social and economic development in Guangdong

China has achieved almost double-digit annual economic growth since Deng Xiaoping launched market-oriented economic reforms and open policies in 1978. Nevertheless, social development in China has lagged behind. This paper is concerned with the disparities between social and economic developmental trends in China, with particular reference to Guangdong Province. Having benefited by the open and reform policies since 1979, Guangdong Province has experienced rapid economic growth, especially in industrialization and urbanization. When compared with the spectacular development in its economy, social advancement in Guangdong has, however, appeared to remain far behind. The vast majority of the people in the province, especially the peasants in rural areas, and those who serve as contracted workers in factories, construction sites, or for the private sector in cities, are not protected by any systematic form of social security. This paper argues that the malpractice of local governments is the major factor leading to these divergent processes of economic and social development.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

The sustainability dilemma of China's township and village enterprises: an analysis from spatial and functional perspectives

The spectacular development of China's township and village enterprises (TVEs) has been highly praised by both Chinese and western scholars. The TVEs and rural non-agricultural sector were widely regarded as the most dynamic sector in the Chinese economy during the reform era. However, such a successful story and optimistic view had changed tone since 1997, seemingly from the robust boom to a deep recession. Evidently, China's present TVEs development must be confronted by deep-seated problems that created the fundamental sustainability dilemma. To better understand China's unusual process of TVEs development, this paper focuses on the sustainability dilemma from the functional and spatial perspectives. It analyses the internal conflicts between TVEs development and agricultural production and explains why the present mode of China's TVEs development cannot be sustained. Within the rural economy, agricultural production and the TVEs themselves have created severe conflicts that have led to a fundamental sustainability dilemma: further encouragement of TVEs or maintaining a stable agricultural output, especially of food supply. The underlying causes for the sustainability dilemma are diagnosed, primarily based on a consideration of functional and spatial division. The paper argues that the conflict is inevitable due to the dysfunctional nature created by TVEs in the rural sector. That is, farmers simultaneously perform two different functions: agriculture and industry, both of which should be functionally and spatially separated. According to Lewis's Two-sector Structural-change Model, this paper attempts to seek a possible solution that aims at an overall functional clarification between the urban and rural sectors. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Advanced producer services industries in Hong Kong and Shenzhen: Struggles towards integration

The path towards a closer integration in Advanced Producer Services (APS) industries between Hong Kong and Shenzhen has been difficult despite favorable locational factors. Based on the authors' long-term and extensive working experience in the APS sectors in the Pearl River Delta, combined with in-depth interviews with senior officers of companies who are APS providers in Hong Kong in 2009, this paper will examine the factors, both tangible and intangible as in institutional and non-institutional, regulatory and non-regulatory, as well as legal, governmental, social and cultural, which affect and resist APS integration between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The findings suggest that the integration of APS between Hong Kong and Shenzhen has been greatly impeded by unfavourable institutional factors that have overwhelmed locational advantages. There are substantial inhibitions against free competition in the China marketplace including non-regulatory and intangible inhibitions, embodied by local protectionism, heavy reliance on guanxi, rampant insider games and nepotism, excessive bureaucracy, an inadequate legal system, pervasive rent seeking and so forth that block integration between the two cities. The paper will also examine the Qianhai Free Trade Service Zone, the ambitious initiative made by the Shenzhen government to promote APS cooperation between the two areas. © 2012 Victoria University of Wellington.link_to_OA_fulltex

The impact of China's WTO accession on Hong Kong textiles, clothing and its supporting industries

China's accession to the WTO and the 'Agreement on Textiles and Clothing' (ATC) which gradually ban the use of quota, will have profound impacts on the textile industry in China. This article attempts to examine such impacts on all textile firms of Hong Kong origin. It briefly examines the impact of WTO on the textile industries in general, the participation of Hong Kong based firms in China's textiles industry, and the competitors from foreign countries. It examines in detail the practice of obtaining Hong Kong quota for textile products that are made in the Mainland by Hong Kong firms. The article argues that there are positive and negative effects of China's WTO accession for all textile firms of Hong Kong origin. It concludes that the shifting of the targeted market to high-end, high-value-added is the only way of survival for the textile firms of Hong Kong.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Spatial disparity in china's educational development: An assessment from the perspective of economic growth

The school in many underdeveloped countries is a reflection and a fruit of the surrounding underdevelop ment, from which arises its deficiency. its quantitative and qualitative poverty. But little by little, and there lies the really serious risk, the school in these underdeveloped countries risks becoming in turn a factor of underdevelopment.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Re-examining China's "Urban" Concept and the Level of Urbanization

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Globalization and Urban Dominance of Large Cities in Contemporary China

本文在全球化和有關經濟理論研究的框架下,對當前中國城市體系運作中大城市占據主導地位的事實和理論基礎進行了評價和解釋。基于最新的人口和經濟的統計數據,本文對當代中國大城市人口的增長和集聚、外商直接投資及提供就業等方面進行了描述。結論是,大城市相對于小城市來說仍然擁有發展的優勢,將繼續占據主導地位。This paper provides further analysis and updates on the process of predominant large cities’ growth within the framework of globalization and the economic theories. Based on the newly published demographic and economic data,the paper depicts the growth and concentration of population, foreign direct investment and employment availability in the large cities. The finding of this paper argues that the growth of large cities out perform the small cities and the dominance of large cities will continue

Self-help housing strategy for temporary population in Guangzhou, China

This paper aims to delineate the current situation and settlement strategies of rural-urban immigrants in metropolitan cities of China. The authors have reviewed the development of the housing market in Guangzhou since the 1980s. Based on the analysis of the general housing market in Guangzhou; the spatial residential pattern of the temporary population; and the recent renewal and construction plan of "Urban Village", the authors recommend a self-help housing strategy for settling the temporary population in Guangzhou. The strategy can be considered as maintaining a balance between the housing supply of and the demand for the targeted population. A brief introduction on the housing experience of the urban poor, Hong Kong and Singapore is provided at the beginning of the paper. The authors feel that the experience and strategic recommendations are relevant and applicable to the formulation of settlement policy for temporary population in China. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex