【正文】
The paper by Gries and Redlin looks at international integration as a determinant or influence on regional development in China. In certain respects this paper parallels the Marti et al paper that looked at the impact of joining the WTO. International integration is, in many respects, analogous to WTO membership. China seems to be afflicted by growing regional disparities. The regional Gini coefficient increased from in 1995 to in 2020. Regional convergence can be regarded as an indicator of the continuity of the rapid growth process. A scenario of convergence indicates that China’s average growth is not driven solely by a small number of rapidly developing regions and so it may be somewhat sustainable. It is not at all clear that convergence means that growth is not driven by a small group of provinces. It may mean that the dependence on this small group is reduced over time as growth spreads across all regions but it does not change the dependence on this smaller group for the foreseeable future. Nor is it clear why growth that is limited to a few provinces is more or less sustainable than growth that is more widespread in regional terms. The available evidence and various studies that have been carried out based on this evidence are ambiguous with respect to whether per capita ine across provinces has been converging or diverging. Several studies claim the former while others find the latter. But on balance, there would appear to be strongest support for the hypothesis that regional disparities have been increasing. There is definite evidence of a technology gap between the coastal and the interior provinces. There also seems to be support fo