ABSTRACT
The central focus of this paper is on the relationship between China's market-oriented economic reforms and the changing role of urban local government, One would expect that the radical changes envisaged in the operation of the economy would have major implications for government in general and for local government in particular especially so in a country the size of China where 'local' governments often oversee communities larger than most national governments elsewhere. How have the economic reformers perceived the links between changes in the economic and governmental system in China's cities and what changes have taken place in the role and structure of urban local government during the era of post-Mao economic reform since 1978? 1
