Globalization Impacts on Chinese Politics and Urbanization

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to critically explore the complex debates on the contemporary growth of China's urban economies. It has been well documented that China is the second largest economy in the world and is seen to be a major player in the financial markets. Over the last decade China has experienced a dramatic urban transformation and globalization is a key factor in the change in China from Maoist production cities to Dengist cities of consumption, albeit with a strong export-oriented production element. As this paper will argue, without the impact of Globalization, the recent development of China as a key economic power could not have taken place. The findings of this research revealed however, that the Chinese State has also played a key role, intertwined as it is with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

China’s urbanization in 1949–2015: Processes and driving forces

“…Globalization and the fast Chinese economic growth triggered rapid urbanization in well-developed coastal regions, and hundreds of millions of rural surplus labors migrated to these regions (Wong et al, 2007;Gu et al, 2008). In Guangdong Province where the manufacturing industry boomed, extraneous labor grew from 1.0 × 10 6 to 1.2 × 10 7 between 2001 and 2010 (Halsall and Cook, 2013). In 2001, 8.0 × 10 7 rural migrants lived in cities for more than half a year.…”

Theorising Chinese urbanisation: A multi-layered perspective

“…Trade followed a similar path, with import and export each about 50 billion dollars in the early 1990s to This globalisation and the speed of the Chinese economic growth are reflected in rapid urbanisation in well-developed coastal regions and flows by hundreds of millions of rural surplus labourers towards cities (Gu et al, 2008). In Guangdong province, with advanced manufacturing industry, extraneous labour has grown from 1 million to 12 million in 10 years (Halsall and Cook, 2013). Further, the development of Chinese higher education is enabling many more rural children to leave the countryside.…”