China's Lagging Poor Areas

Casual observations and the best data available indicate remarkable geographic differences in levels of living within China. For example, across the neighboring provinces spanning the region between Hong Kong and Myanmar, one finds a rural poverty rate in the inland mountainous province of Guizhou in 1990 that is 7-10 times higher (depending on the poverty line) than in the coastal province of Guangdong, just a few hundred kilometers away. And within Guizhou, one finds some areas much poorer than others. What creates these poor areas? Are they catching up? What should governments do?