“…By the mid-1990s, the TVEs had been partially privatized through the creation of joint stock companies in which individuals, households and local governments became shareholders (Mukherjee and Zhang, 2007). During this process of rural industrialisation, many small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) emerged in towns and cities within the coastal regions of South and East China (Zhai, 2005;Wei et al, 2007). In the 1980s and 1990s, within these regions, one may observe the emergence of three distinct paths or models of regional development, the "Pearl River Delta Model" (Guangdong province, South China), the "Sunan Model"(Jiangsu province, East China) and the "Wenzhou Model" (Zhejiang province, East China) (Yang, 2007;Guo and Feng, 2009;Wei, 2010).…”