China's Regions in an Era of Globalization

The rise of China has been shaped and driven by its engagement with the global economy. This engagement cannot be understood at the level of national policymaking alone, but requires analysis of the differences in participation in the global economy across China’s regions.

Book Updated 30 March 2022

Dr Tim Summers

Former Associate Fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme (based in Hong Kong)

China's Regions in an Era of Globalization book cover

China is a continent-sized economy and society with substantial diversity across its different regions. This book traces the evolution of regional policy in China and its implications in a global context.

Detailed chapters examine the trajectory of what is now becoming known as the Greater Bay Area in southern China, the inland mega-city of Chongqing, and the role of China’s regions in the globally focused Belt and Road Initiative launched by the Chinese government in late 2013.

It will be of interest to practitioners and scholars engaging with contemporary China’s political economy and international relations.

This book is published as part of the Insights series.

Praise for China’s Regions in an Era of Globalization

With considerable analytical rigor and clarity in exposition … this is the first book to examine China’s post-1978 development from a regional perspective. Students, researchers, and policy makers who want to understand China’s rapid economic rise in the 21st century will find this book indispensable.

Alvin So, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China

About the author

Tim Summers works on the political economy and international relations of contemporary China. He is a Lecturer at the Centre for China Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a (non-resident) Senior Consulting Fellow on the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House. He was British consul general in Chongqing from 2004 to 2007.

This book is published in collaboration with Routledge.