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“Going Global in Groups”: Structural Transformation and China’s Special Economic Zones Overseas

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  • Bräutigam, Deborah
  • Tang, Xiaoyang

Abstract

China’s special economic zones helped the country industrialize by attracting foreign investment. In 2006, Beijing initiated an overseas trade and cooperation zone program, assisting Chinese companies to invest abroad while also building China’s soft power through the transfer of a key component of China’s development success. Little is known about the 19 zones approved so far under this program, or the impact they are likely to have on structural transformation and industrial development in their host countries. This paper identifies the 19 zones and their proposed locations, the process of selection, developers, implementation, and the Chinese incentive regime. It then focuses on the African zones. Using a typology of factors that have proven critical for zone development in the past, the paper evaluates the potential of these zones for fostering structural transformation in Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Bräutigam, Deborah & Tang, Xiaoyang, 2014. "“Going Global in Groups”: Structural Transformation and China’s Special Economic Zones Overseas," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 78-91.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:63:y:2014:i:c:p:78-91
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.10.010
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    1. Rotunno, Lorenzo & Vézina, Pierre-Louis & Wang, Zheng, 2013. "The rise and fall of (Chinese) African apparel exports," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 152-163.
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    Cited by:

    1. Newman, Carol & Page, John & Rand, John & Shimeles, Abebe & Soderbom, Mans & Tarp, Finn (ed.), 2016. "Manufacturing Transformation: Comparative Studies of Industrial Development in Africa and Emerging Asia," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198776987.
    2. Linda Calabrese & Rhys Jenkins & Lorena Lombardozzi, 2024. "The Belt and Road Initiative and Dynamics of Structural Transformation," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(3), pages 515-547, June.
    3. Susanne A. Frick & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2022. "Special Economic Zones and Sourcing Linkages with the Local Economy: Reality or Pipedream?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 655-676, April.
    4. Kopczewska Katarzyna, 2019. "Can public intervention improve local public sector economic performance? The analysis of Special Economic Zones in Poland," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 6(53), pages 221-245, January.
    5. Benfratello, Luigi & D’Ambrosio, Anna & Sangrigoli, Alida, 2023. "Foreign Direct Investments in Africa: Are Chinese investors different?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    6. Lectard, Pauline & Rougier, Eric, 2018. "Can Developing Countries Gain from Defying Comparative Advantage? Distance to Comparative Advantage, Export Diversification and Sophistication, and the Dynamics of Specialization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 90-110.
    7. Carol Newman & John Page, 2017. "Industrial clusters: The case for Special Economic Zones in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-15, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. McCauley, John F. & Pearson, Margaret M. & Wang, Xiaonan, 2022. "Does Chinese FDI in Africa inspire support for a china model of development?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    9. Ronald B. Davies & Arman Mazhikeyev, 2019. "The Impact of Special Economic Zones on Exporting Behavior," Review of Economic Analysis, Digital Initiatives at the University of Waterloo Library, vol. 11(1), pages 145-174, July.
    10. Adolph, Christopher & Quince, Vanessa & Prakash, Aseem, 2017. "The Shanghai Effect: Do Exports to China Affect Labor Practices in Africa?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 1-18.
    11. Nicholas Jepson & Oyuna Baldakova, 2024. "Chinese State Capital as a Partner for Resource-Based Structural Transformation? The Belt and Road Initiative and Downstream Linkages in Bolivia and Kazakhstan [¿El capital estatal chino como socio," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(3), pages 718-745, June.
    12. Zahra Abdulhadi Shukra & Ying Zhou & Lingling Wang, 2021. "An Adaptable Conceptual Model for Construction Technology Transfer: The BRI in Africa, the Case of Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, March.
    13. Ricardo Reboredo, 2021. "Disaggregating Development: A Critical Analysis of Sino-African Megaprojects," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 21(1), pages 86-104, April.
    14. Wanlei Xue & Bingkang Li & Yongqi Yang & Huiru Zhao & Nan Xu, 2019. "Evaluating the Effectiveness of New and Old Kinetic Energy Conversion from an Electric Power Economics Perspective: Evidence on the Shandong Province of China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-17, March.
    15. Shi, Buchao & Huang, Liangxiong & Wei, Shengmin & Geng, Xinyue, 2022. "Overseas industrial parks and China's outward foreign direct investment," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    16. Nebojša Stojčić & Korneliusz Pylak & Dubravka Jurlina Alibegović, 2022. "The spatial impact of entrepreneurial zones: firm, city and inter-city evidence," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(12), pages 2164-2176, December.
    17. Kabinet Kaba & Justin Yifu Lin & Mary‐Françoise Renard, 2022. "Structural change and trade openness in sub‐Saharan African countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(7), pages 2101-2134, July.
    18. Yang Liu & Yidan Jin, 2022. "Special economic zones, export status, and firms’ productivity: Theory and evidence from China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 1338-1360, August.
    19. Sylviane Guillaumont Jeanneney & Ping Hua, 2020. "When and how African real exchange rates relative to China affect its manufacturing?," Post-Print hal-03060589, HAL.
    20. Qing Qin & Churen Sun, 2023. "Empirical Research on the Impact of China’s Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones on the Development of Host Countries in the Global Value Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-24, March.
    21. Zhiwen Gong & Fung Chan & Yan Wu, 2021. "Borrowing Hong Kong’s International Standards: A Steppingstone for the Chinese “Belt and Road” Going Out?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, March.
    22. Linda Calabrese & Xiaoyang Tang, 2023. "Economic transformation in Africa: What is the role of Chinese firms?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(1), pages 43-64, January.
    23. Gregory T. Chin & Kevin P. Gallagher, 2019. "Coordinated Credit Spaces: The Globalization of Chinese Development Finance," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 50(1), pages 245-274, January.
    24. J. Alexander Nuetah & Xian Xin, 2019. "Has China’s Investment Pattern in Sub-Saharan Africa Been Driven by Natural Resource Quest?," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 11(3), pages 215-231, September.
    25. King, Alan & Ramlogan-Dobson, Carlyn, 2015. "Is Africa Actually Developing?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 598-613.

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