ABSTRACT
Although we have not examined the state of freedom and happiness the people of China may
have enjoyed when the gates to global integration were opened in 1978, the evidence shows
that massive trade and investment flows have followed since reforms began, which has not
only stimulated rapid economic growth and structural change but it has also generated
significant improvement in real wages, especially from the 1990s. The advantages offered by
the seafront and an earlier focus by the government made the Eastern coastal provinces the
largest beneficiaries of globalization in China. Manufacturing value added and structural
change and wages have grown the fastest in these states. Nevertheless, the middle inland
provinces and federal territories of Jiangsu and Beijing have also benefited considerably
from the transformation. Although regional inequalities have widened as a consequence of
the faster development of the Eastern provinces compared to the Western provinces the
evidence shows that material progress has been felt by most provinces.