Case Study: Inequality in China
Geography: Cambridge International GCSE (2027 Exams), topic 8.2.4
Inequality in China
China is a Newly Emerging Economy (NEE) that has high income inequality between the rural population and the urban population, who have disproportionately benefited from industrialisation.
Richer areas
- Coastal industrial zones seem to have benefited from cumulative causation since China became more of a market-based economy.
- Coastal locations are good for trade.
- The major cities in each province are generally a lot wealthier than the smaller cities.
- E.g. Shanghai is 5x wealthier than inland areas like Gansu.
- Locations like Inner Mongolia, which have oil, coal and minerals that can be used in industrial processes are generally wealthier.
Poorer areas
- The South West of China has the Himalayan mountains.
- The soil here is bad and the terrain is mountainous.
- Land-locked areas that are inland and away from trade routes, like Gansu and Ningxia are poorer than other parts of China.
Improving west China
- The Chinese government developed the “Go West” plan to improve infrastructure (including roads, railways and pipelines).
- The “Belt and Road” policy aims to improve the links between the Central parts of China and South East Asian countries.
Government policy
- Twinning policies pair a poor inland area with a rich coastal area.
- The rich area offers advice and development strategies.
- But the inland areas may have locational disadvantages.
- Poorer areas also get more funding from the central government.
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