Compared with Soviet Union countries that have used “shock therapy” to transform suddenly into a capitalist economy, China has been more moderate in reforming its political and economic system. Most Western countries still fail to recognize China's market economy status and criticize China's lack of many basic tenets of the free market. However, China has undeniably grown at a rapid pace in the last four decades to become an important global economic power. China is also making great progress in alleviating poverty, and it alone has accounted for almost two-thirds of the reduction in the number of undernourished people in the developing regions since 1990. How did China achieve these results? What lessons can the rest of the world learn from China? Bradley M. Gardner provides a refreshing perspective on these questions, arguing that migration is one of the most important reasons for the Chinese economic miracle.
One of the book's most significant contributions is its use of migration as an important tool or framework for understanding China's political economy and, indeed, China's economic miracle. Focusing closely on internal migration, Gardner discusses why and how rural-to-urban migration occurred (chapters 1 and 2), how migration has influenced China's development (chapters 4 and 5), the obstacles that China has to face (chapter 6), and lessons that can be drawn from China's experiences (chapter 8). Gardner presents two specific examples of development patterns in China: the bottom-up model of spontaneous development, as in Wenzhou (chapter 3), and the top-down model of government-led development, as in Zhengzhou (chapter 7).
The book's positive attitude toward migration is commendable. While scholars recognize that migration creates opportunities, stimulates innovation, and brings prosperity, not every nation easily embraces migration; in fact, most countries restrict migration in some way. The underlying reasons make sense. A nation is more than just its economy; it comprises institutions that “ensure that an economy functions, and it allows people to understand how that economy functions and how best to use their resources within the country” (p. 135). Migration may threaten the existing social order and “make the game more competitive” (p. 135). In the past, immigrants have been used as scapegoats to hide the underlying protection of some privileged social groups or to maintain political stability. Gardner gives the example of the Chinese Exclusion Act in the United States as an expedient way of restoring the economic privilege of vested interests. China actually shares some similarities with the United States in this context, and the massive inflows of population into urban China have challenged the work of old institutions and the distribution of resources. For instance, with the massive rural-to-urban migration, the old planned economic system was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy; urban dwellers, who hold “iron rice bowls,” could not keep their jobs indefinitely; the delivery of social services and the state-monopolized financial system could not meet the needs of the market; and environmental pollution, traffic congestion, and other urban diseases emerged. All of these could provide valid reasons for restricting migration. Gardner suggests that the government should either reform or abandon the old institutions in order to serve the country's growing urban workforce. Instead of calculating how much migration a city can accept, the government should consider changing its institutions to make them friendlier toward migrants and more conducive to economic growth.
Gardner summarizes two developmental patterns in China by using the examples of Wenzhou and Zhengzhou. These cases illustrate that both the government and market forces need to play a role in migration and economic development. Wenzhou was developed without an industrial policy, having little access to capital and receiving no government support. As in many other places where the natural resources were limited and were located far away from the economic center, rural farmers had more incentive to move to the cities. Meanwhile, private ownership flourished with little government interference, unlike in other regions in China where state-owned companies monopolized the economy. In Wenzhou, migration occurred spontaneously, controlled completely by market demand. After several years of such development it has grown into one of the richest cities with a scaled manufacturing sector. However, the lack of government involvement has also brought problems, such as severe pollution, ignorance of urban slums, and widening social inequality. An absence of formal financial services meant that Wenzhou had an unofficial financial system. While this provided working capital for economic development, the informality made the finance sector volatile and risky. Money tended to flow into low-end and low-skilled industries that showed no interest in investing in technical upgrades or R&D. These defects obstructed future development.
In contrast, Zhengzhou's development included government intervention. The government invested in building new towns in Zhengzhou, hoping to attract more capital and labor to the city. However, the government intervention also led to ghost cities, and the economy remained stagnant. It was only after the government reformed the hukou system and introduced Foxconn that migrants flowed into the city and Zhengzhou experienced the “Chinese economic miracle.” If Wenzhou's achievement resulted from spontaneous migration and market power, Zhengzhou's development benefited from government support. Nevertheless, both development without government supervision and intervention and development without market power will eventually lead to economic unsustainability.
In addition, Gardner discusses aspects of migration and economic development that China will face in the future, such as capital outflows, urban sprawl, fiscal problems, illegal sale of land, and hukou reform. I agree with his opinion that “the efficiency of capital in China is heavily dependent on the mobilization of labour” (p. 206). Whether China could maintain economic growth at a competitive rate depends largely on the sustainable supply of its labor force. The barriers to internal migration should be lifted and reformed. Among the worldwide voices of anti-immigration and antiglobalization, this book provides an alternative perspective from which to reflect on the relationships between migration and development.
