Evolution of Urban Collective Enterprises in China

Abstract

China's economy has been undergoing major changes since 1979 that are beginning to affect both the structure and performance of her economic system. Although the changes have been carried out largely on an exploratory and experimental basis, they promise to infuse greater management flexibility into some units of production. China's economic system has been greatly influenced both by excessive administrative control that has tended to slow down the processes of decision-making and production adjustment, and by ideological mandates that predetermined the forms and functions of the national economic system. The new economic order being shaped was formally sanctioned by the third plenary session of the eleventh central committee of the Communist Party of China held in Beijing between 18 and 22 December 1978, which called for the adoption of a series of major new economic measures to relax the central government's tight grip on production units. Such tight control has left most, if not all, production enterprises with little management authority and has to a large extent hindered the performance of the economy as a whole.

Development of Towns in China: A Case Study of Guangdong Province

“…In many developing countries, the urban tertiary sector is characterized by small-scale, privately owned activities that are largely separated from the more advanced, large-scale operations that forn the mainstay of the urban economy. This dualistic structure of the urban economy (Bromley, 1978; McGee, 1970) is clearly not applicable to China, where the economy, urban or rural, consists of at least three basic components in which the means of production are owned respectively by the state, the collectives, and private individuals, with the state sector dominating much of the urban economy (Tang and Ma, 1985). The relationships of production, distribution, and consumption among these three segments of the Chinese economy are complex, but as China continues to pursue the goal of a socialist market economy the collective and the private sectors are likely to reduce the dominant position of the state sector.…”

Changing Discourses in China Geography: A Narrative Evaluation

“…Few experienced researchers would deny the fact, however, that it is extremely difficult for an area specialist to come up with both theory and substance, abstraction and precision, nomothetic generalization and idiographic description. Yet, it is a subtle task that has been handled so well by Ma, who has managed to excel simultaneously on the two grounds of China studies and urban and regional geography (Ma and Cui, 1987;Ma and Lin, 1993;Ma and Xiang, 1998;Tang and Ma, 1985). His distinct approach combining empirical details with constant concerns for theorization has set a valuable role model for many students and young researchers of China geography.…”