Determinants of State Investment in China, 1953–1990

Generalizations of regional development in socialist countries based on detailed case studies of important elements of production in different countries are needed. This study focuses on one important force that affects China's regional development: state investment in basic construction. With the exception of the Third Front period (1965‐71), the more developed eastern region always enjoyed a greater proportion of state investment than the central and western regions. Three major factors affected the temporal patterns of regional distribution of state investment in China: the ideological concern for spatial equality, defense considerations arising from perceived international threats, and die practical needs of die national economy. These factors exerted different influence on die investment patterns at different times. Whereas spatial equality and economic pragmatism were major concerns during the First Five‐Year Plan (1953‐57), national defense greatly affected the spatial patterns of state investment during the Third Front period, and these factors brought considerable state investment to die inland regions. Since die 1978 reforms, die concern for economic efficiency, not spatial equality in development or national security, has favored die coastal region.