ECONOMIC REFORM AND REGIONAL DISPARITIES IN CHINA

Abstract

This article presents a general overview of the economic reform process undertaken by China in the last twenty-five years, and whose impressive results have projected this nation as a leading actor on the international stage in the 21st century. The great regional disparities - caused by the policies of external opening and decentralization - are highlighted as one of the most outstanding areas of the imbalances and conflicts present in China's transition process. The large gap opened between the favored areas of the coast and the most lagging areas of the interior of the country has led to a reformulation of the articulation mechanisms between the center and its provinces, as well as a review of the discriminatory practices of incentives to trade, investment and economic development.