Case Study → Open Door policy - China, 1978 (Edexcel A-Level Geography): Revision Notes

Case Study → Open Door policy - China, 1978

•                                                               Open Door policy*
  

Context	● Prior to 1978 China was a poor and politically isolated country and 'switched off' from the global economy ● This changed when Deng Xiaoping introduced the open door policy which enabled China to embrace globalisation whilst remaining under one-party authoritarian rule
Introduction of the 'Open door' policy	● Earliest reforms occurred in rural areas ● Agricultural communes were dismantled and farmers were allowed to make a small profit for the first time ● Strict controls on the number of children were also introduced, to curb population growth

| Impacts of the
'Open door'
policy | ● Over the next 30 yrs, the largest migration in human history took place
○ Approx 300 mil people left rural areas in search of better life in cities
■ Only a strict registration system called hukou prevented rural
villages from emptying altogether
○ Soon there will be 200 Chinese cities w/ 1 million inhabitants or more
○ Many areas are rapidly built 'instant cities'
● An Urban mega-region of 120 million people has grown around the Pearl River Delta
○ Inc. conjoined cities of Shenzhen, Dongguan and Guangzhou
● World's largest TNCs were quick to establish relations w/ Chinese-owned factories in
the SEZs
● By 1990, 50% of China's GDP was being generated by SEZs
● By 2015, may workers were earning $40 a day or more
● 400 million people said to have escaped poverty |