ABSTRACT
This chapter shows the progress in the economic integration of the major Chinese economies, even before the official handover of Hong Kong to mainland China. It examines the economic cooperation of Taiwan and the mainland. In Taiwan, the Nationalist Party is the largest property owner, with widespread business interests. In mainland China, government owns a great variety of enterprises. Enterprises owned by the Chinese government often engage in overseas business ventures. The Greater China now emerging is neither a political entity nor an organized trading bloc. It is an economically interdependent area born of market and cultural forces—sharing language, customs, and history. The Chinese natural economic territory furnishes a striking example of private enterprise taking the lead and government becoming the lagging influence. Business corporations have paced the economic development of the Greater China trading area. In contrast, government policy often generates the obstacles to cross-border undertakings.
