ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the relationship between the Chinese state and economic forces in shaping rural market development during the reform period since 1979. Skinner's perspective on how rural China is organised and how market system is supposed to change over time has become classic work in geographical studies on China. Economic reform has changed China's economy from a rigid, planned system to a more market-oriented one. Neither economic reforms nor membership of the World Trade Organisation, however, have given free rein to market activities in countryside, despite the rapid growth in the number of outlets. The considerable scholarly attention given to China's rural market development predates the Pacific War. In 1940, Spencer published probably the earliest paper in the western world on China's periodic markets. Differences between China and other socialist countries persisted in the reform era. This is underlined by current debates on the transformation of socialist societies.
