Migration, Urbanization and City Growth in China

Migration and urbanization have transformed the Chinese economy and society in the past 25 years. This paper intends to explore the determinants of population flows and city growth using a panel data at the provincial level in China. The main findings are: (i) regional disparities of urbanization in China, in particular those between coastal and inland areas, are very significant; (ii) the open-door policy has encouraged urban development in China; (iii) the population of small and medium size cities grows faster than that of large cities; (iv) the role of the secondary and tertiary sectors differs from region to region. In central China, the secondary sector actually serves as the push factor for local urbanization; and in coastal region, however, it is the development of the tertiary sector that pushes urbanization; and (iv) the labor force tends to move to cities with good infrastructures.