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China Lateral Economic Cooperation
China also undertook measures to develop "lateral economic
ties," that is, economic cooperation across regional and
institutional boundaries. Until the late 1970s, China's planned
economy had encouraged regional and organizational autarky, whereby
enterprises controlled by a local authority found it almost
impossible to do business with other enterprises not controlled by
the same institution, a practice that resulted in economic waste
and inefficiency. Lateral economic cooperation broke down some
barriers in the sectors of personnel, resources, capital, technical
expertise, and procurement and marketing of commodities. In order
to promote increased and more efficient production and distribution
of goods among regions and across institutional divisions, ties
were encouraged among producers of raw and semifinished materials
and processing enterprises, production enterprises and research
units (including colleges and universities), civilian and military
enterprises, various transportation entities, and industrial,
agricultural, commercial, and foreign trade enterprises.
A multitiered network of transregional economic cooperation
associations also was established. The Seventh Five-Year Plan
(1986-90) divided China into three regions--eastern, central, and
western, each with its own economic development plans. In addition
to the three major regions, three echelons of economic cooperation
zones were created. The first echelon--national-level economic
development zones--cut across several provincial-level boundaries
and linked major economic areas. Among these were the Shanghai
Economic Zone, the Northeastern Economic Zone, the energy
production bases centering on Shanxi Province, the
Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Economic Zone, and the Southwestern
Economic Zone. The second-echelon network linked provincial-level
capitals with designated ports and cities along vital communication
lines and included the Huaihai Economic Zone (consisting of fifteen
coastal prefectures and cities in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, and
Shandong provinces) and the Zhu Jiang Delta Economic Zone centered
on the southern city of Guangzhou. The third tier of zones centered
on provincial-level capitals and included the Nanjing Regional
Economic Cooperation Association. Smaller-scale lateral economic
ties below the provincial level, among prefectures, counties, and
cities, also were formed.
Data as of July 1987
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