On China’s prospects for diminishing regional disparities

Comments on Jane Golley “China’s prospects for diminishing regional disparities”, 31/08/3010, http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2010/08/31/chinas-prospects-for-diminishing-regional-disparities/
If Chinese top policy makers are willing to use the most appropriate policies to coordinate the development strategies of the whole country inclusive of the eastern, central and the western regions, it should be possible for China to do much better than "regional inequality between the west and the rest of China is likely to be diminished marginally at best".

For example, they could use some sort of fiscal transfers and link them to encourage the private sector in the eastern region to invest in the other less well off regions to tilt a bit the balance between investing abroad and inland.

There are advantages in investing inland. For example, due to various reasons including cultural, language, systems, transport and market, the barriers or the costs and the risks of investing inland are likely to be much smaller, thus to raise the return to investment. It is also much easier to coordinate the required infrastructure development within a country, especially given the policy priority of the central government.

There are also vast labour supplies including skilled and educated personnel. Certainly it will be easier to train or educate workers if needed.