Regional Integration in South China: Processes and Consequences in a Local Economy of the Pearl River Delta

Abstract

This study examines the processes and consequences of regional integration in a local economy of the Pearl River Delta. The relocation of manufacturing activities from Hong Kong to Guangdong has not displayed a spatial tendency of concentration in large urban centers. The existence of personal kinship ties, an improved transport infrastructure, abundant supply of cheap labor and land space, and the lack of strict regulations on environmental pollution have combined to make the suburban areas between Hong Kong and Guangzhou a place no less attractive than a congested large city to Hong Kong manufacturers. The inflow of capital and manufacturing facilities has quickened the pace of Chinese rural industrialization and facilitated a distinct urbanization process whereby a great number of surplus rural laborers entered factories in the countryside without having to move into cities. The introduction of global capitalism has also changed the culture, behavior, and lifestyle of the local Chinese people.