Coping with growth in China: comparing models of development in Guangdong and Chongqing

This paper highlights the importance of local context, the timing of development, and the trade-off between growth and equity in shaping strategies of development. We compare the ‘Guangdong Model’ and ‘Chongqing Model’ of development, two alternative strategies of development in contemporary China. The former emphasized market-oriented reforms, international linkages, and a relatively open environment for civil society; the latter emphasized state-led initiatives to produce economic growth, reduce economic inequality, and reprise traditional practices of the Chinese Communist Party. This paper contrasts the ideological aspects of the two models, along with the political strategies of the leaders most associated with them and the results of their policies. Although China remains a one-party political regime, the Guangdong and Chongqing models are also the most recent manifestation of different localities pursuing different economic models. Rather than providing alternative models for China’s future development, they reveal trade-offs between economic and social goals and how best to achieve them. Their experiences also have implications for other developing countries trying to balance competing developmental goals.