Spatial transformation and water infrastructure in coastal Jiangsu: the role of land reclamation companies during the early twentieth century

This article examines the role of land reclamation companies in early twentieth-century coastal Jiangsu, China, as key drivers of spatial transformation. Amid retreating state capacity during the late Qing and Republican eras, Chinese entrepreneurs, most notably Zhang Jian, established shareholding companies that reclaimed coastal mudflats and declining salt fields, and transformed them into cotton plantations. Engaging with global flows of knowledge and technology, including Japanese agricultural planning and Dutch hydraulic engineering, these companies integrated new techniques with native practices to build modern water infrastructure and reshape rural landscapes. By focusing on non-state actors in regional planning, this study argues that land reclamation companies represented a critical alternative model of spatial development that reshaped local communities and laid foundations for later state-led collectivized rural economy. This study challenges dominant narratives of state roles, and highlights how entrepreneurial initiatives mediated global and local forces to reshape space, economy, and environment. It also contributes to broader discussions on water infrastructure, rural development, and China's modern economic transformation.