ABSTRACT
The empirical analysis broadly concurs with the main qualitative finding that the market for general quality beef is integrated within some of China’s major beef cattle zones, at least in the long-run, but that markets across these zones are much less integrated. The analysis drew on monthly provincial beef prices for the second half of the 1990s, namely January 1995 to December 1999. The data limitations strengthen the importance of a careful observation of the price series and understanding of the factors influencing these prices relative to the data-generating processes derived from the more formal, empirical, cointegration analysis. The chapter suggests some degree of co-movement of beef prices within major beef cattle zones, especially the Central Plains and North-east. The broad tendency for beef price levels across the regions to converge over the period complicates the empirical analysis aimed at uncovering real developments in regional cointegration.
