ABSTRACT
Since the reform and opening up, the Chinese government has implemented an imbalanced development strategy that has stressed efficiency and supported the eastern region as the priority for development. The strategy stimulated the rapid economic growth and export expansion in eastern China and enhanced China’s overall economic strength. At the same time, serious regional development imbalances also accumulated; in particular, the disparity between the eastern and western region expanded rapidly. Moreover, as China extends its participation in economic globalization, inward foreign investment and associated export have concentrated primarily in the eastern region, which has exacerbated the unbalanced growth and widened the regional gap (Wei, 2009).
