The Genesis of Shenzhen

This chapter provides a concise background of the Open and Reform policy’s international and domestic contexts which lead to the official implementation of special economic zones. Though China aligned with the Soviet Union in the communist political orientations, the lack of material wealth and progress in the Soviet Union’s late development stage undermined the idea that China should maintain its highly centralized, state controlled economic system with no market opportunities. China’s quest for its own developmental path emerged at a critical time. Given China’s massive geographical territory, establishing special economic zones for experiments before distributing possible successful development lessons to other cities and provinces has worked in China.