ABSTRACT
With two decades of reforms and subsequent economic growth, the Chinese
economy in general and the well-being of the world’s largest populace in
particular has improved significantly. However, has the improvement been
equal across regions? More importantly, has rapid economic growth led to
reduction of regional disparities? These issues have become the focus of the
recent debate on regional disparities in China. Understanding these issues has
important implications not only for regional development policy but also for
the continuation of the reforms in China. The objective of this chapter is to
review the existing literature and to present new evidence of regional
disparities in China. It thus contributes to the current debate and adds to the
literature.
