ABSTRACT
This chapter examines whether advanced business services can provide a viable substitution to manufacturing as the leading sector of economic growth in Chinese cities. It explores what service sector development strategies could fit different cities in China. The chapter focuses on cities in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). This region has led China's dramatic industrialization in the past three decades, but is now affected by a new wave of economic restructuring enabled by relatively more advanced service activities. The PRD provides an ideal case to examine the role of services in a transitional industrial region. The chapter presents a typology of business services economies and compares their distinction in market orientation, modes of development, key resources needed and locational preferences. Based on this framework, it then examines the patterns of service sector development in the PRD. It further discusses what business service development strategies are appropriate for different kinds of cities in the PRD.
