There are also Special Economic Zones
(SEZ, 经济特区) set up to encourage development and foreign investment
with tax concessions and other government measures. These began in 1980 as a
provincial government initiative supported by Deng Xiaoping. SEZs tend to be
prosperous, have large expatriate communities, and have more Western
restaurants and facilities. They are:
▪
The entire island province of Hainan
Development in these areas has been phenomenal.
In 1978, Shenzhen (next to Hong Kong)
and Zhuhai (next to Macau)
were groups of fishing villages, with a population of a few hundred thousand
each. By 2008, Shenzhen had a population of 10 million and Zhuhai approached 2
million. The other SEZs have also undergone enormous changes. Pudong was mostly
farmland in 1990, but now has more skyscrapers than New York.
There are also many other areas where investment
is encouraged. The national government started a program in 1984 that opened up
14 coastal cities, and all the capitals of inland provinces or autonomous
regions, for investment. There are also many provincial, city, county and
township-level economic development programs. However, the SEZs remain the most
developed areas with the most advanced administrative systems for investment
and spurring economic development
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