Chinese industrialization, planning and policies: local growth and global equilibria

In this chapter, we focus on one particular initiative – the Specialized Towns program. Since the launch of the program in 2000, the number of Specialized Towns (STs from now on) has constantly grown, reaching a total of 416 in 2016 and becoming the backbone of Guangdong’s industrial growth according to its policymakers (Su & Sun, 2016). In 2015, they accounted for 37% of the provincial industrial output and 32% of the total export of the province, but in some prefectures (e.g. Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan) their contribution was close to 100% of the output: taken altogether, they produce nearly 384 Billion US$ a year (GDASS, 2017). A high number of the manufacturing towns included in the programme are examples of places where the alliance between Chinese and global goals has clearly been successful in incentivizing growth and industrialization. Indeed, some of them have become global production hubs, where huge quantities of manufactured goods are realized to respond to the international demand. Such towns have historically seen a strong intervention of overseas capitals and actors. The national and local government's actions have largely interacted with this production framework to plan and enhance industrial and economic performance, contributing to production efficiency, innovation, competitiveness and structural change. Our aim is to offer detailed and unique analysis on the experience of STs. After having framed it in the literature debate (section 2) we focus on the description of the policy, on its tools and evolution in time (section 3) and on the trends of its spatial and sectoral distribution (section 4). To better describe the STs phenomenon in terms of economic and social achievements and limits, we concentrate on three cities (Dongguan, Foshan and Zhongshan) whose economic activity is predominated by STs (section 5). We conclude with some remarks about the challenges and perspectives of the program, that also set the future research agenda on the topic (section 6). The analysis in this chapter is largely the result of a long-lasting research carried out by the authors on this topic, developed through a repeated series of fieldworks in Guangdong and in its STs, the last of which was held in July-September 2017. The fieldworks have allowed the authors to collect data and policy documents on-site, but also and above all to interview and discuss with several policy actors at various levels (provincial, city and townships), scholars and company managers and to see first-hand the results and the evolution of the STs program. These areas strongly contribute to national GDP and exports and in some specific products (smartphones, suitcases, toys only to name some) they cover a large portion of global production. It is therefore crucial to study the development trajectory of such territories to better understand the global consumption/production equilibria and the extent to which they trigger either inclusive innovation processes or mere exploitation of places.