CONFIDENTIAL #B
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of China sharper than that between the SSEZ and Hong Kong. Even more important was the view that an
economically advanced SSEZ would reduce, in relative terms, China's economic dependence on Hong Kong.
3.
It is likely that China's underlying reason for setting up the SEZS involved some of each of the above
motives. Thus, each of the motives can be used as a criterion by which the performance of the SSEZ can be judged. Among the four SEZs, the SSEZ is obviously the largest and the most important, besides having the greatest potential impact on the economy of Hong Kong. Because of this the following paragraphs focus on the SSEZ.
Model for economic growth and development in China
4.
It has been quite frequently claimed that the SSEZ will become a model for economic growth and development in China. This claim is not very convincing considering that it does not seem feasible for the development of China as a whole to be modeled on the
development of the SSEZ or any other SEZS. The economies of the SEZs are at present little more than trading ports with a narrow manufacturing base at an initial stage of development. Even if a much enlarged manufacturing base is developed in due course, the SEZs are still unlikely models for the growth and development of such a large continental economy like China. China's economic growth and development may follow the examples of the continental economies, but it is unlikely that it can
copy the success of the port economies, particularly as their initial financing is dependent on
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