Regions in China: One Market or Many?
Fred Gale
The statement "Everything is true somewhere in China" Figure F-1 reflects the diversity among China's provinces and Urban per capita disposable income, regions, each of which has its own character, consumer by region, 1990-2000 tastes, and agricultural growing conditions (see box). Yuan (1,000) Differences in the level and pace of development and 10 region-specific policies magnify the importance of understanding regional differences in China. 1990 2000 8 Post-reform development in China led to widening regional disparities in incomes—east versus west and rural versus urban. Early post-1978 development policies 6 favored coastal areas, a reversal of earlier policies aimed at moving industry inland. Coastal growth accelerated due to favorable treatment combined with the natural 4 advantages of coastal locations and ethnic connections with overseas Chinese investors. Incomes in other regions also experienced rapid growth, but incomes in 2 coastal regions remained far ahead. By 2000, urban per capita incomes in southern coastal provinces averaged 8,541 yuan, while average incomes in other regions 0 ranged from 5,064 yuan to 5,753 yuan (fig. F-1). The South Coast North South Central Northeast West gap between rural and urban incomes also grew, espe- Note: Year 2000 constant yuan. 1990 data were adjusted for cially during the 1990s (see "Can Rural Income Growth inflation using consumer price index. Weighted averages computed using provincial population as weights. Regional Accelerate?" in this report). China's economic delineation by ERS (see fig. f-2). growth—and growth in consumer demand—has been concentrated in cities along the coast. Provinces along Source: Calculated by ERS using data from National Bureau of Statistics. China's southern coast account for 34 percent of China's gross domestic product and 21 percent of the country's Distribution: Will Bottlenecks Be Eliminated?" in this population (fig. F-2 and table F-1). With just 10 percent report). Southern feed mills and soybean crushers have of the country's cultivated land, China's south coast relied on imported raw materials because access to corn region must rely on other regions to help supply its food and soybeans from northeastern China is difficult. If needs. Cities along China's northern coast, such as China can reduce transportation and distribution bottle- Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, and Qingdao, are also necks, it will become easier for domestic producers in geographic centers of consumer demand. interior provinces to supply coastal markets.
Coastal cities also account for much of China's Legacy of Regional Self-Sufficiency consumption of imported high-value food products. In some sectors, producers in China's interior provinces At times, uneven development across provinces and compete with producers overseas for markets along competing economic interests pitted provinces against China's coast. Until recent years, an overloaded trans- one another and dampened interregional trade. China portation infrastructure, especially on north-south has, through much of its history, resembled a confeder- routes, and inefficient marketing systems made interre- ation of separate principalities, a tendency reinforced gional trade difficult (see "Transportation and by 1950s-era policies that encouraged provinces to be
20 China’s Food and Agriculture: Issues for the 21st Century / AIB-775 Economic Research Service/USDA Important Regional Differences
It is important to understand the vast differences in Most affected by water scarcity resource endowments, climate, and wealth among Heavily populated China's regions. Important region for temperate crops: wheat, fruit, Northeast corn, cotton Highest endowment of cropland per capita West Important region for soybean and corn production Largely arid climate Important center of state-owned heavy industry Large minority populations South central Important cotton production area (Xinjiang) Site of the Yangtze (Changjiang) River South coast Poor and heavily populated Rapid economic growth and high incomes Important region for production of rice and pork Scarcity of land Northern plain Relatively high demand for food imports Site of the Yellow River
self-sufficient in food and industry. Following national, rather than regional, markets. Few national economic reforms, lack of economic integration food brands have emerged, as regional brands and among provinces came into focus in the 1980s and companies still dominate most markets, but certain 1990s when interior provinces tried to block shipments foreign brands are recognized throughout the country. of manufactured goods from coastal provinces and Greater competition from foreign brands, increased tried to prevent raw materials like coal, cotton, jute, presence of foreign retailers, and development of silkworm cocoons, and tobacco from leaving the national retail chains may encourage development of province. Interior provinces sought to generate profits national brands in China. Industries made up of and tax revenue by setting up local industries to duplicative small companies associated with particular process local raw materials procured at artificially low provinces, cities, or regions are being restructured to prices. In the early 1990s, some observers predicted achieve economies of scale and reduce overcapacity. that China might break apart under the pressure of Restructuring is expected to intensify as competition interprovincial trade wars. Until recent years, inter- from foreign firms increases. China's WTO accession provincial flows of labor and capital were also limited commitments, in addition to allowing entry of more by restrictions on migration and poorly developed foreign firms, may also allow domestic firms to enter financial institutions. markets in provinces outside their home regions. This policy change may accelerate integration of the China's legacy of local self-sufficiency is slowly national economy in China. being undone as industries restructure in today's more competitive environment. By the late 1990s, domestic In agriculture, markets are becoming more integrated trade wars were over and interregional trade was and regional crop specialization is increasing. For booming. China's growing trucking industry and example, until the 1980s, each city in China was improved highway system have enabled distributors to expected to be self-sufficient in vegetables, but bypass bottlenecks in the country's inadequate rail and production is now concentrating in certain rural areas water transport infrastructure. Vastly improved that specialize in vegetables and ship them to distant communications systems permit the rapid dissemina- cities or overseas. Studies show that prices of similar tion of market information and communication commodities in different geographic markets move between customers and suppliers. together, a further indication of market integration. Greater regional specialization may increase China's Greater competition and freer entry may accelerate the total food and fiber production capacity by making the restructuring of China's industry and the emergence of most efficient use of the country's scarce farmland.
Economic Research Service/USDA China’s Food and Agriculture: Issues for the 21st Century / AIB-775 21 Figure F-2 Regions of China
Northeast Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Heilongjiang
Beijing West Gansu Inner Mongolia Jilin Liaoning
Hebei Tianjin Ningxia Shanxi North Qinghai Shandong
Sichuan Chong Hubei Shanghai qing Tibet (Xizang) Autonomous Region Zhejiang Jiangxi Guizhou Hunan Fujian
Yunnan South Guangxi Coast South Guangdong Central Hong Kong
Hainan
Source: Economic Research Service, USDA.
Table F-1—Regional shares of population and production of major commodities, by region China South South Item total Northeast North coast central West Percent Population1 10082721377 Gross domestic product 100 10 27 34 24 4 Cultivated land2 100 17 26 10 33 15 Production:3 Wheat 100357111810 Corn 100 30 37 3 18 11 Rice 100 9 4 29 58 1 Soybeans 100 39 23 9 22 8 Meat 100 10 27 16 41 6 Fruit 100 5 43 25 22 5 Cotton 100 0 34 8 21 37 Note: Regional shares do not add to 100, due to rounding. 1 Year 2000. 2 1997. 3 1999. Source: Calculated by ERS using data from China National Bureau of Statistics, "Communique on Major Figures of the 2000 Population Census (No. 2)," Abstract of the First Agricultural Census in China, and Rural Statistical Yearbook 2000.
22 China’s Food and Agriculture: Issues for the 21st Century / AIB-775 Economic Research Service/USDA trade, since they have vibrant manufacturing export What We Need to Know sectors and rely on food imports, including high- quality rice and wheat, corn, oilseeds, and poultry. Will China continue to evolve toward a unified Provinces in northern and central China, which are market with national companies and brands? heavily populated by poor farmers growing crops How will free trade after WTO accession affect vulnerable to foreign competition, are more skeptical disparities between provinces and support for of free trade. Development policies during the 1970s national trade policy? and 1980s limited foreign investment to certain coastal cities, accounting in part for the regional disparities in Will the central government be able to implement income today. A new western development initiative policies at the local level? seeks to steer investment and development to China's relatively poor and politically sensitive western provinces. If WTO accession leads to greater regional Grain production is gradually being liberalized and disparities, the central government may introduce more regionally integrated but has been subject to retrench- region-specific development policies—perhaps ments, such as the mid-1990s Governor's Grain Bag directed at agricultural areas or regions with industrial policy, which charged each provincial governor with unemployment—to preserve social stability. ensuring that local grain supplies were adequate to feed the local population. Further Reading
Central-Local Policy Conflicts Liu, Bai-Yang, and Bong Joon Yoon. "China's Eco- nomic Reform and Regional Productivity Differen- China's long history as a unified nation obscures the tials," Journal of Economic Development, Vol. 25, fact that provincial and local governments have tradi- December 2000, pp. 23-41. tionally wielded considerable power that can block the implementation of central government policies. The Luo, Xiaopeng, and Frederick W. Crook. "The Emer- traditional Chinese saying "The country is wide and gence of Private Rice Marketing in South China," the emperor is far away" reflects the considerable International Agriculture and Trade Reports: China, discretion and responsibility of local officials in imple- WRS-97-3, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Eco- menting central government edicts handed down nomic Research Service, June 1997. through the country's vast bureaucracy. Plant and Rozelle, S., A. Park, J. Huang, H. Jin. "Bureaucrat to animal quarantine offices, for example, are operated at Entrepreneur: The Changing Role of the State in the local level and are self-funded. Some observers China's Grain Economy," Economic Development speculate that local inspectors and officials may be and Cultural Change, Vol. 48, January 2000, pp. subject to local pressures to apply national sanitary or 227-252. phytosanitary standards to block shipments, thus bene- fiting local traders or producers. Similarly, foreign Yang, Dali. Beyond Beijing: Liberalization and the firms given a green light by national authorities to Regions in China, Routledge, 1997. enter the China market may face local regulations, taxes, or approvals that block access. In preparation for Young, Alwyn. "The Razor's Edge: Distortions and its World Trade Organization (WTO) accession in Incremental Reform in the People's Republic of 2001, China conducted a comprehensive review of China," Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 115, local regulations to bring them into compliance with November 2000, pp. 1091-1135. its WTO commitments. Zhou, Huizhong. "Implications of Interjurisdictional Competition in Transition: The Case of the Chinese Regional differences can pit provinces against one Tobacco Industry," Journal of Comparative Eco- another in national policy. For example, relatively nomics, Vol. 29, 2001, pp. 158-182. wealthy southern coastal provinces tend to support free
Economic Research Service/USDA China’s Food and Agriculture: Issues for the 21st Century / AIB-775 23