Blue and Yellow China: Spatial Dynamics and Convergence

Since the early phase of the country modernization, the center of gravity of China’s economy has been alternately located in the coastal area (Blue China) and in inland area (Yellow China). Such a shift is now taking place in China’s economic geography: the interior regions are catching up the coastal area (which was the engine of economic takeoff the last thirty years), thanks to an outstanding convergence speed in industry. This rebalancing goes hand in hand with China’s new growth regime which relies increasingly on its expanding domestic market. The analysis is based on the data from the National Bureau of Statistics of the PRC: the statistical yearbooks provide the long term macroeconomic series at provincial level (1952-2011); the data from the census of industrial firms allow an in-depth analysis of the period 1997-2009, a period in which the manufacturing industry has played a leading role in the spectacular growth of the Chinese economy.