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The present paper performs a development accounting analysis to investigate the sources of China's interprovincial income inequality over the period 1982–2005. We estimate a Cobb–Douglas aggregate production function with various specifications. Using the estimated parameters, we conduct a development accounting analysis as well as a variance decomposition. Our results suggest that differences in physical capital intensity and in total factor productivity are both important sources of cross-province income differences, each accounting for roughly half of the variation in income levels. Differences in human capital explain only a small amount of income differences across provinces. The results are robust to whether or not the assumption of constant returns to scale is imposed. The interaction between factor accumulation and total factor productivity is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents important changes in the Chinese macroeconomic environment over the last three decades. The volatility of Chinese aggregate economic activities has fallen dramatically by nearly 60 per cent during its reform period, a phenomenon that coincides with the ' Great Moderation' that occurred in most industrialized economies. We employ a provincial panel-data method to investigate the driving forces of the increasing macroeconomic stability in China. We examine the empirical relationship between output volatility and various economic, policy, institutional, and demographic factors. Our results suggest that the acceleration of reform toward the market economy, which began around 1994, generally leads to a widespread output volatility reduction across Chinese provinces. Both state-owned enterprise reform and human capital accumulation are important determinants of output volatility since the mid-1990s; they play an important role in explaining the provincial differences on volatility reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's economic reforms, which began in 1978, resulted in remarkable income growth, and urban Chinese consumers have responded by dramatically increasing their consumption of meat, other livestock products and fruits and by decreasing consumption of grain-based foods. Economic prosperity, a growing openness to international markets, and domestic policy reforms have changed the food marketing environment for Chinese consumers and may have contributed to shifts in consumer food demand. The objective of this paper is to uncover evidence of structural change in food consumption among urban residents in China. Both parametric and nonparametric methods are used to test for structural change in aggregate household data from 1981 to 2004. The tests provided a reasonably clear picture of changing food consumption over the study period. En Chine, les réformes économiques amorcées en 1978 ont entraîné une croissance remarquable du revenu à laquelle les consommateurs urbains chinois ont réagi en augmentant considérablement leur consommation de viande, d'autres produits d'élevage et de fruits et en diminuant leur consommation de produits alimentaires à base de céréales. La prospéritééconomique, une ouverture croissante sur les marchés internationaux et les réformes de la politique intérieure ont modifié l'environnement commercial des produits alimentaires des consommateurs chinois et peuvent avoir contribuéà modifier la demande des consommateurs pour des produits alimentaires. Le présent article visait à recueillir des preuves de changement structurel dans la consommation alimentaire des citadins chinois. Nous avons utilisé des méthodes paramétriques et non paramétriques pour tester les changements structurels à partir de données agrégées sur les foyers de 1981 à 2004. Les tests ont brossé un tableau assez clair de l'évolution de la consommation alimentaire au cours de la période à l'étude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone ( SPFTZ) founded one year ago is a trial for China's new round of reform and opening up, which has promised liberalisation on the capital account and trade facilitation as its main objectives. Here, we discuss why China adopted such a pilot zone after three decades of economic development, and explore what the differences are between the SPFTZ and other free trade areas, and developments of the SPFTZ in the past year. We also make a preliminary assessment of the SPFTZ's initial impacts, especially of its impact on China's capital account opening and financial liberalisation. It is possible that the successful practice of the SPFTZ and more pilot policies replicated in China will give rise to a more balanced Chinese economy in the following decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We attempt to explain the China Puzzle, the coexistence of accelerating economic growth, and a worsening growth outlook. The root cause lies in China's unique liberalization approach, that is, the combination of a complete liberalization of product markets and continued distortions in factor markets. Repressed costs of labor, capital, land, and resources artificially raise the profits of production, increase the returns to investment, and improve the international competitiveness of Chinese products. The asymmetric liberalization approach not only promoted economic growth, but also caused structural risks. It also contributed to global imbalances as well as regional integration. Therefore, future reform policies should focus on the liberalization of the factor markets and the elimination of cost distortions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a systematic and comprehensive account of the establishment, reform, and development of China's System of National Accounts, focusing on important changes in concepts and methods in national accounting during China's transition from the Soviet-type Material Product System to the United Nations System of National Accounts, as well as existing problems and challenges that must be faced in the further development of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new wave of regional trade negotiations have sprung up in the Asia- Pacific region. China faces challenges and opportunities simultaneously. On the one hand, if China is excluded from major regional trade agreements, such as Trans-Pacific Partnership, it may hurt China's future growth. On the other hand, China can utilise the opportunities of regional trade negotiations to shape the new rules of international trade from the very early stage. Regional trade negotiations are also important for China because it needs further opening up to facilitate the domestic economic reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the cause of the economic problems of China. The discrepancy between the reforms in the macro-policy environment and the reforms in the macro-policy environment and the reforms in the micro-management institution and resource allocation system is identified as the root of the problems. Government officials in China are advised to abandon the catching-up and forging-ahead development strategy in order to complete the reforms in the macro-policy environment. According to the article, the consequences of the forging-ahead strategy include a distorted macro-policy environment, a loss of comparative advantage, a biased industrial structure, and low economic efficiency.