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China’s western regions 2020: their national and global implications

Tim Summers

This chapter examines the prospects for the western regions of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). After reviewing developments over recent years, it argues that there are gradual structural shifts under way which increase the relative importance of these regions both to the PRC and to China’s relations with the rest of the world, and that these are evidenced by recent changes in the geography of the PRC’s economic development. These shifts flow firstly from evolution in the policy direction and practical reality of domestic development towards social and regional rebalancing, and secondly from the changing structure of China’s global relationships. The latter ...

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