Exploring China’s Impacts on Development Thinking and Policies

In this article, we explore the impacts, actual and potential, of China’s development experiences upon thinking policies elsewhere. New Structural Economics, a theoretical innovation by Professor Justin Yifu Lin drawing on longer tradition pragmatic ‘learning doing’ strategies, provides framework in which three agendas stand out: structural transformation as policy priority; return industrial policy; use Special Economic Zones. We integrate related drivers growth China: rapid urbanisation pulling massive rural migration an economic process; financing provincial city governments improvised local government vehicles based rising urban land values; competition accountability processes subnational governance system. While cannot be directly replicated elsewhere, argue that lessons why how to achieve are relevant for other developing countries, especially fast urbanising integrating Africa.