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Discussion
of Case Study Themes
At
a Glance
China's government now has policies that encourage large-scale
projects, such as the Open Coastal Area of Shanghai,
as well as policies that reinforce more traditional
small-scale projects like the rural township enterprises
in Sijia. Transportation networks are vital to both
Sijia's and Shanghai's continued prosperity. Infrastructure
development is an important factor in Shanghai's renewed
economic might. Both places rely on the Chang Jiang
River -- Sijia for transportation of trade goods to
Nanjing and Shanghai for access to the 350 million people
in the Chang Jiang hinterland. International trade is
vital to both places. Access to adequate labor supplies
supports both the city and the village. Scales of industrialization
and growth are different in both Shanghai and Sijia,
yet each location is dependent on both. Both the Open
Coastal Area and the rural township enterprises seek
foreign direct investment, and both live under its effects.
Case
Study 1 -- Shanghai: Head of the Dragon
The
Chang Jiang's Influence Flows Both Ways
The Chang Jiang (Yangtze) River is Asia's longest
river, flowing over 3,660 miles (6,000 kilometers)
from the highlands of Tibet to the East China Sea.
Over 350 million people live in its drainage basin,
with Shanghai at the mouth of the river. The Chang
Jiang is an integral part of China's transportation
network; it is navigable by ocean-going vessels for
over 670 miles (1,100 kilometers) inland to places
such as Wuhan and Sijia. Smaller ships can travel
another 975 miles (1,600 kilometers) to the industrial
city of Chongqing. Together with its tributaries,
the Chang Jiang offers over 18,300 miles of navigable
waterways that allow for large flows of consumer goods,
industrial products, and passengers to the hinterland
of Shanghai and much of Southeast China. In turn,
materials and products flow downstream to Shanghai.
Shanghai Tops List of China's Big Cities
Shanghai is China's largest city. With a population
of over 17 million, it is also one of the largest
urban areas in the world. After the Opium Wars between
China and the European powers during the nineteenth
century, foreign traders from Britain, France, Russia,
the United States, and Japan set up operations in
Shanghai, turning the city into a booming port and
industrial center. Much of Shanghai's unique European/Asian
architecture is located along the Bund, a row of tall
financial and trade buildings facing the Huangpu,
a tributary of the Chang Jiang. Today this region
is a twenty-one mile long port -- a mix of oil terminals,
container terminals, and bulk loading facilities.
Trade
Spurs Renewed Development in Shanghai
One key to the industrial growth of China's main seaport
for international trade is the Pudong New Area, located
across the Huangpu tributary east of Shanghai. The
Huangpu was not spanned until the early 1990s, but
now two bridges carry vehicles across the river to
the Open Coastal Area, location of factory sites,
a financial center, free-trade zones, residential
areas, a new deep water port on the Chang Jiang, a
communications center, and an international airport.
New Shanghai Grows with the Return of Old Trading
Partners
With the rapid changes occurring in Shanghai, a new
city is developing. As the city's infrastructure improves,
especially for transportation, economic development
will follow. The Pudong New Area in particular offers
many opportunities for further growth. Agricultural
fields are giving way to high-rise apartments, factories,
and port facilities, one consequence of which is the
displacement of residents of older neighborhoods.
Because of its strategic geographic location at the
mouth of the Chang Jiang, Shanghai will continue to
grow as one of the world's great cities and East Asian
economic centers.
Case Study 2 -- Sijia: Small
Town, Big Change
Jiangning
Displays Tradition of Township Enterprise
Jiangning is one of five counties in the Nanjing Prefecture
of the Jiangsu Province. Within the county are twenty-four
villages and townships, one of which is Sijia, a small
village 19 miles (30 kilometers) south of Nanjing.
Sijia produces both agricultural products and blue
jeans. The denim factory there is a rural industrial
enterprise or township enterprise, and is the result
of a longstanding village tradition allowing businesses
to make profits commensurate with their efforts. Such
activity is helping fuel China's rapid economic growth.
Rural Enterprises in Sijia are Open to Foreign
Investment
Most rural enterprises in Jiangning County produce
textiles, chemicals, or machinery. Under the government's
new policy of freer markets, businesses can make profits
commensurate with their efforts. This has helped bring
foreign investment to rural enterprises. These factories
now employ almost twenty percent of the county.
Sijia's
factory attracted its first group of foreign investors
in 1990. The blue jeans garment factory employs over
fifty percent of the population in the village and
has had to hire at least twenty percent of its workforce
from the neighboring province of Anhui. These migrant
workers put in long hours for low pay without the
benefits of family enjoyed by Sijia's residents.
Industrialization
Alters Family Village Economy
With the success of the denim garment factory, the
people of Sijia are able to obtain many of the comforts
afforded by a higher living standard. A new school
has been built, many people have built new homes,
and many extended families have appliances, washing
machines, cell phones and DVD machines. The factory
has helped keep the rate of migration from Sijia to
China's cities lower, since workers can secure a steady
income and improve their material wealth within the
village.
The
growth of township enterprises has brought a number
of changes to the Chinese countryside. In Sijia, for
example, there are few poor people in a country that
is still largely poor. The factory has given many,
especially women, the chance to earn a steady income.
Farming households that have three, four, or even
seven family members working in the factory dramatically
raises income. This affects the food these families
can afford, the clothes they wear, and the homes in
which they live. More efficient farming methods mean
fewer hands are needed in the fields, and the factory
allows people who would otherwise have to migrate
to the city to stay in the countryside and make a
good living.
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