ABSTRACT
Administrative parameters have exerted a strong influence on China's regional economic development. As a centrally planned economy, the role of the state and its policy implications for regional economic development have always been a major concern. In 1978, economic reform altered most of these radical policies. Whether China's social economic development has broken away from administrative influence, however, is debatable. Some studies show that economic development has integrated different regions. The importance of administrative boundaries in China is forcefully illustrated by Skinner's studies on China's rural market system. Skinner elaborated Christaller's 1930s work on economic central places to seek "a general explanation for the sizes, numbers and distribution of towns." Skinner also drew on Losch's location theory of scattered farms, despite its assumption of pure competition and its 'bottom-up' approach. The pre-1949 market districts in rural China were regarded by Skinner as a traditional system, comprising three levels: standard, intermediate and central.
