ABSTRACT
An industrial cluster is an industrial system (called a system for short) which is made up of different industrial sectors. Functions of industrial clusters are the effects possessed by the industrial system in its internal integral part. The industrial clusters system of China is a huge open industrial system composed of 11 industrial clusters and has two functions, that is, external functions and internal functions. External functions are the links that one industrial cluster has with other clusters, and the contacts with external groups (including other industrial clusters or nonindustrial clusters) according to the industrial clusters’ internal demands in order to facilitate developing and growing to maturity. Internal functions are the links among internal industries of industrial clusters. Functions of industrial clusters display all kinds of flow input, transition and output among industries in and out of the system. The study of the functions of industrial clusters is actually the study of these flows. In order to maintain stable and ordered development of industrial clusters in China, and to realize adjustment and to optimize growth of industrial structures in China, we must macro-control all kinds of flows among industries, make them harmonious and unimpeded, make the system develop towards a more ordered advanced phase, and offer decision-making bases for government decision-making sectors.
