ABSTRACT

This chapter explores a more inclusive theoretical explanation for the growth of service industries in China. It argues that the process of tertiarization and urban transformation cannot be fully explained without a comprehensive understanding of the state-market relation which is temporally and spatially contingent. The chapter then examines the role of state-market interaction in the growth of service industries in the Chinese context, taking Guangzhou, one of the most rapidly expanding and globalizing metropolitan areas in China as a case study. It also contextualizes the changing state-market relation and the growth of service industries over the past decades. This is followed by a study of the growth of services in Guangzhou, and an analysis of the role of state-market relation in urban transformation of the metropolis. The chapter highlights the important findings of the study and raises a number of theoretical questions for further investigations.