Three Decades of Chinese SEZs: Old Roads and New Roads

"To end poverty, build a road", so goes a Chinese saying. SEZs, with their focus on massive infrastructure-building and labour-intensive manufacturing of low-tech goods exported to western markets, are the accepted drivers of China's rapid economic growth during the past three decades. The game began with the opening of coastal cities such as Shenzhen and Xiamen in 1980 and culminated with over 6,000 zones in the mid-1990s. Now, thirty years on, China's new development road includes exporting its old SEZ model to Africa, as well as upgrading its "Made in China" paradigm with an "Invented in China" wish.

Professor Zeng Huaqun, International Economic Law Institute, Xiamen University, China was the keynote speaker at this Roundtable, which seeks to identify and discuss the key factors that have sparked this transition and the oxygen that may support China's new growth trajectory.

Other speakers/discussants included:

• Professor Connie Carter, Royal Roads University, Victoria, British Columbia
• Professor Feng Xu, University of Victoria, British Columbia
• Professor Zhang Qianfan, Beijing University, China (currently Visiting Professor, University of Victoria)
• Professor Andrew Harding, CAPI, University of Victoria, British Columbia