Locational studies of Chinese manufacturing industries
中国制造业省区分布及其影响因素

Economic transition, which can be conceptualized a triple process of marketization, globalization and decentralization, has significantly shaped China's economic geography. Marketization introduced market competition and allowed market forces to distribute resources, stimulating firms to locate along the line of comparative advantages. Economic globalization further opened the Chinese economy to international competition, encouraging the geographical concentration of Chinese industries. Regional decentralization however induced fierce interregional competition, resulting in local protectionism and rational imitation of industrial policies and therefore stimulating the geographical dispersion of Chinese industries. As economic transition proceeds, there has been substantial spatial restructuring in Chinese manufacturing industries. Most industries experienced spatially dispersing process in the 1980s and have been increasingly agglomerated since the early 1990s. Chinese provinces had been diversifying their industrial compositions in the 1980s but have been gradually more specialized since the late 1990s. The geographical patterns of Chinese manufacturing industries significantly vary by industry. Statistical results show that significant locational determinants of Chinese manufacturing industries include industrial policies, labor quality and cost, scale economies, natural resources and market accessibility. The significance of locational determinants also depends on the nature of industries. The empirical results would provide scientific supports for regional industrial policies.