ABSTRACT
An essential part of the CCP's drive to modernization in the PRC during the 1980s has been the pursuit of regionalization. Regionalization in this context does not necessarily entail any specific kind of administrative region as , for example, the PRC ' s provincial or county levels , or its special economic or development zones . Indeed, it could refer to any or all . Rather, regionalization refers to the development of the economy through co-operation, exchange and the operation of market forces in localized economies . This process is described as regionalization because of the emphasis on spatial development, but equally important is the con dition that economic management should be based on economic and not administrative or political grounds . The development of localized economies is often seen as resulting from what are described as 'hori zontal relationships' . This term has been used to emphasize the interac tion of market forces and economic decision-making for economic reasons, as opposed to the operation of administrative fiat in the vertically organized environment of a command economy .
