ABSTRACT
Although a 40-year successful reform process transformed China from a national level perspective, into one of the world’s leading global economic powers, we should recognise that China’s still faces ongoing developmental challenges because this political-economic success at the national level masks, to some extent, the existing inequality of development among China’s provinces. This developmental inequality is not only related to economic aspects but also to a wider inequality of development in areas such as access to education, health provisions, and social security. As such, this developmental inequality represents a serious and continuous challenge for the Chinese government, a challenge which, although recognised, seems to be quite enduring. The BRI, from a domestic perspective, offers another attempt to address this persisting developmental imbalance but within an international context, by addressing the geographic remoteness and the developmental under-performance of China’s borderland areas.
