CLUSTERS ET STRATÉGIES DE DÉVELOPPEMENT EN CHINE

This paper aims to analyse, through the nature and the evolution of clusters, the specific features of the Chinese development model, in relation with FDI and the public accompanying policies that have been implemented. Three types of clusters can be distinguished according to a chronology that fits in with the different stages of development : (i) industrial clusters that developed from reforms initiated at the beginning of the 1980s with the implementation of openness, development and infrastructure policies ; (ii) technological clusters that appeared in the 1990s, largely favoured by innovation policies ; (iii) more recently, the emergence of scientific-industrial clusters within metropolitan regions having implemented scientific policies that attract the R&D functions of multinational corporations. The most original feature of the development strategies, beyond the promotion of clusters on mainspring activities of the different development stages, is the parallel implementation of unbalanced growth on the territorial and the institutional level.