China experiments with modernisation: the Shenzhen special economic zone.

Abstract

Part of the emphasis has been on the creation of four special economic zones which will be favoured in internal investment terms and in their regulations which permit overseas enterprises to operate in them. The largest and most developed of these zones is Shenzhen, to the N of China's border with Hong Kong. Examines its development since 1979, its structure and the types of investment which it has attracted, and wishes to expand in the future. By means of these special economic zones, China hopes not only to attract foreign capital and technology, but to be able to observe the operation of Western management and industrial expertise and to gain experience in how better to manage and modernise her own economy. This is an important experiment in modernisation which should be monitored in view of China's increasing involvement in the world economy.-Authors