ABSTRACT
Central-local relations have been a long problematic issue in China’s political-economic life. After Emperor Qinshihuang wiped out all other states in the mainland and established a united huge empire, the Qin Dynasty (221–207 BC), theoretical disputes and power conflicts over centralization versus decentralization became a continuing political theme in China’s history. When the Communists took power and a socialist People’s Republic was established in 1949, the historical dilemma in central-local relations took on some new facets. As a state-dominated socialist regime, the state monopolistically controlled most means of production and centrally planned national economic development. On the other hand, China’s extremely complex social-economic conditions demanded local autonomy in order to accommodate regional differences.
