Is China’s model of SEZ-led development viable?: A call for smart replication

Jan Knoerich; Liliane Mouan; Charlotte Goodburn

doi:10.1177/1868102621993487

Is China’s model of SEZ-led development viable? A call for smart replication

Jan Knoerich, Liliane Mouan, Charlotte Goodburn

King's College London

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

159 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

While China’s experience of using special economic zones (SEZs) for advancing economic development is a model increasingly adopted in other developing countries, the processes involved in replicating this model elsewhere and the outcomes of such replication remain little understood. This review article’s nested examination of three relevant strands of literature and two case studies of India and Ethiopia indicates that successful replication of China’s SEZ-led development would involve deliberate processes of adaptation from the original model. Replication must be “smart,” by taking into account the temporal, systemic, and other discrepancies between the Chinese model and the replicating country; replicating the benefits of China’s approach whilst
avoiding the drawbacks; and maximising the positive effects of direct Chinese involvement and investments while reducing negative repercussions.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	248-262
Number of pages	15
Journal	Journal of Current Chinese Affairs
Volume	50
Issue number	2
Early online date	24 Mar 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102621993487
Publication status	Published - Aug 2021

Bibliographical note

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Funder

King's Together Fund

Funding

Funders	Funder number
King's College London
King's College London

Keywords

China
Chinese international investments
industrialisation
special economic zones

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Sociology and Political Science
Political Science and International Relations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance(all)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1177/1868102621993487Licence: CC BY

PublishedFinal published version, 5.08 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{b1b489f9430c49b6aea211bba9dfe038,

title = "Is China{\textquoteright}s model of SEZ-led development viable?: A call for smart replication",

abstract = "While China{\textquoteright}s experience of using special economic zones (SEZs) for advancing economic development is a model increasingly adopted in other developing countries, the processes involved in replicating this model elsewhere and the outcomes of such replication remain little understood. This review article{\textquoteright}s nested examination of three relevant strands of literature and two case studies of India and Ethiopia indicates that successful replication of China{\textquoteright}s SEZ-led development would involve deliberate processes of adaptation from the original model. Replication must be “smart,” by taking into account the temporal, systemic, and other discrepancies between the Chinese model and the replicating country; replicating the benefits of China{\textquoteright}s approach whilstavoiding the drawbacks; and maximising the positive effects of direct Chinese involvement and investments while reducing negative repercussions.",

keywords = "China, Chinese international investments, industrialisation, special economic zones",

author = "Jan Knoerich and Liliane Mouan and Charlotte Goodburn",

note = "This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).",

year = "2021",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1177/1868102621993487",

language = "English",

volume = "50",

pages = "248--262",

journal = "Journal of Current Chinese Affairs",

publisher = "SAGE Publications",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Is China’s model of SEZ-led development viable?

T2 - A call for smart replication

AU - Knoerich, Jan

AU - Mouan, Liliane

AU - Goodburn, Charlotte

N1 - This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

PY - 2021/8

Y1 - 2021/8

N2 - While China’s experience of using special economic zones (SEZs) for advancing economic development is a model increasingly adopted in other developing countries, the processes involved in replicating this model elsewhere and the outcomes of such replication remain little understood. This review article’s nested examination of three relevant strands of literature and two case studies of India and Ethiopia indicates that successful replication of China’s SEZ-led development would involve deliberate processes of adaptation from the original model. Replication must be “smart,” by taking into account the temporal, systemic, and other discrepancies between the Chinese model and the replicating country; replicating the benefits of China’s approach whilstavoiding the drawbacks; and maximising the positive effects of direct Chinese involvement and investments while reducing negative repercussions.

AB - While China’s experience of using special economic zones (SEZs) for advancing economic development is a model increasingly adopted in other developing countries, the processes involved in replicating this model elsewhere and the outcomes of such replication remain little understood. This review article’s nested examination of three relevant strands of literature and two case studies of India and Ethiopia indicates that successful replication of China’s SEZ-led development would involve deliberate processes of adaptation from the original model. Replication must be “smart,” by taking into account the temporal, systemic, and other discrepancies between the Chinese model and the replicating country; replicating the benefits of China’s approach whilstavoiding the drawbacks; and maximising the positive effects of direct Chinese involvement and investments while reducing negative repercussions.

KW - China

KW - Chinese international investments

KW - industrialisation

KW - special economic zones

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85119400112&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/1868102621993487

DO - 10.1177/1868102621993487

M3 - Article

VL - 50

SP - 248

EP - 262

JO - Journal of Current Chinese Affairs

JF - Journal of Current Chinese Affairs

IS - 2

ER -