Report on the Innovative Development of China’s Special Economic Zones

Abstract

In 2015, the global economic situation was severe—the economic recovery of the developed countries could be expected; there was an obvious sign that the developed countries, led by the U.S.A., were recovering; the major developed countries had not yet gotten out of their economic woes; the emerging economies were apparently divided into different camps; China’s economy had entered the new normal; the economic growth had declined, the GDP growth rate was 6.9%, the lowest in 25 years; the stable economic growth was mixed with concerns and troubles. The internal structure of industries was adjusting more rapidly, new industries were growing faster, the industrial structure was developing more swiftly towards the medium and high end. The development of industries was greatly different, as evidenced by the following three phenomena: First, there was an excess of production capacity in some traditional industries. The growth rates of resource and energy industries had substantially decreased, and the quality of products in such industries as iron and steel declined sharply, the overall pressure of inventory was great, these industries were still at the stage of adjustment. Second, the new and high-tech industries developed rapidly. Such industries as electronic information technology, new energy and pharmaceutical manufacturing showed a relatively rapid growth. Amidst the complicated and changing internal and external environments, China’s special economic zones endeavored to carry out reform, promote transformation, and give prominence to the leading role of quality and innovation-driven efforts to achieve sustained innovation-driven economic development.

This report is funded by the major program (14JJD790041) of the Ministry of Education’s Key Research Base for Humanities and Social Science and the 12th Five-Year Planning Program of Guangdong for Philosophy and Social Science (GD13YYJ01).