SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Since 1978, China has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Notable features of its economic performance have been its industrial growth and the expansion of its manufactured exports. The focus of this research is China's industrial performance during the years 1980 and 1992. Its principal objective is to analyze Industrial growth from the twin perspectives of resource mobilisation and productivity change. It is argued that these two aspects, both of which reflect the impact of Dengist reforms, are interrelated.;Our analysis of resource mobilisation suggests that a number of factors have contributed to China's rapid industrial growth. Two of these have been of particular importance. First, increased emphasis on the role of the market, in terms of facilitating more rapid growth of household demand and strengthening intersectoral linkages, enabled the Industrial sector to improve its access to widening domestic and foreign markets. Second, the transformation of funding arrangements for industry had two beneficial results: it permitted non-state agents to play a greater role in financing industrial expansion; and it enabled the traditional state funding system to enhance its role as a means of improving intersectoral balance.;The analysis of productivity change in post-reform industry is deliberately set in the context of the changes in market structures which have faced China's industrial enterprises. Our findings indicate that enterprise reforms and structural adjustments have been a source of improvement in levels of industrial productivity in China. But they also suggest that such improvements have been neither consistent, nor balanced over time and between different branches of Industry.;In an attempt to identify the forces which have given rise to the distinctive patterns of resource mobilisation and productivity change in China's industrial sector under the Impact of reform, we have deliberately focused on the interactions between government, enterprises and the market. It is noteworthy that the increased role played by regional and local governments has facilitated the more intensive use of local productive resources. But it is also clear that the same factor has been the source of regional market fragmentation. Both of these elements have impacted on China's industrial performance since the early 1980s.