Topic 4a Trans-border Flow: Between Hong Kong and Mainland China.

Topic 4aTopic 4aTrans-border Flow: Trans-border Flow:

Between Hong Kong and Mainland ChinaBetween Hong Kong and Mainland China

Theme: • The formation of transborder governan

ce ( 跨境管治 ) between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta, South China

Questions:1. What is transborder urban governance? 2. What is transborder flow and when did

it begin?

• An increasing demand of transborder economy between Hong Kong and Pearl River Delta, South China.

• Transborder studies contribute to two literatures of studies: globalization studies and urban governance studies.

Globalization and Transborder StudiesGlobalization and Transborder Studies

Deepen the globalization studies: by locating the glocalizing process ( 全球在地化 ) in a transborder context- gone beyond the dichotomy of “space of flows” and “politics of place”.

Contributing to the urban governance studies: by re-drawing the borders and boundaries of governance.


“an increasingly complexity of modalities ( 形態 ) of governing including governmental actors, para- government agencies ( 輔助政府的機關 ), business networks and societal actors who may work together or against each other in a cross-border context”.

Transborder Urban GovernanceTransborder Urban Governance

Tung Chee Wah VS Huang Hua Hua

Key concept to remember!

Smith (2001) argues that “transborder urbanism” is one of the new possibilities for locating globalization.

The emergence of new time-space dimensions of transborder economy is the integral part of globalization.

Transborder Urban GovernanceTransborder Urban Governance

New concepts on transnational or transborder phenomenon- like the discourse of “Greater China” in East Asian context.

Critic points that the concept of “Greater China” is often simply used as a short-hand way of aggregating the Hong Kong, PRC and Taiwanese economies.




Whether the notion "Greater China" is another catch-all buzz word, it depends on how we work to tease out its multi-layered and heterogeneous processes.

We need to develop useful middle-ranged concepts like multi-scalar politics and transborder urban governance.

Globalization - but a multiple re-ordering of time and space conducive to new configuration of scale politics and forms of governance, often in a transborder-border context.


Scaling processes can be further distinguished into:

cross-border relations (internationalization);

open-border relations (liberalization);

trans-border relations (re-making of social relations in multiple forms).

Multi-scalar Politics:Multi-scalar Politics:


Further break down the concept of space into a procession of spatial scales, contributing to multiple forms of configuration at different levels and dimensions.


Harrell (1995) helps to distinguish two processes:

– "regionalism" refers to top-down processes- the conscious and deliberate attempts by national states to create formal mechanisms for dealing with common transnational issues;

Multi-scalar Politics:Multi-scalar Politics:Key concept to remember!

– "regionalisation" refers to bottom-up processes- the driving forces come from markets, from private trade and investment flows, and from the policies and decisions of companies.

Multi-scalar Politics:Multi-scalar Politics:Key concept to remember!

• highlighting the “bottom-up” nature of transborder interaction in in China.

• The term "economic integration" often refers to the formal cooperation between states, and thus ignoring the societal factors in pushing forward the transborder governance.



• The rapid restructuring of Hong Kong society, and the entering of China into WTO mounting the demand for a growing transborder economy.

• Open-door policy brought forth a great change in the role of government in South China, especially in SEZs and industrial towns.

Hong Kong and Transborder FlowsHong Kong and Transborder Flows

• A new form of transborder governance will be articulated when both changing governments work together to regulate a “triangular growth” crossing the border.


Guangdong – Hong Kong cooperation together

• Despite to the state factors, transborder interactions between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta from the bottom have been underway for more than two decades.


• In addition to capital relocation both in manufacturing and services sectors, there are also:– a) cross-border employment, – b) marriage;– c) housing

• A “transborder society” has been forging long before both sides of governments finally came to the scene.



Hong Kong residents working in Mainland China

Special Topics Report No. 21 and 30, Social data collected via the General Household Survey, Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong, 1999, 2001.

Year No. of persons working in Mainland China

1988 52,300

1989 45,600

1992 64,200

1995 122,300

1998 157,300

2001 190,800

• 35.5% were aged 30-39; while 32.9% were aged 40-49. Their median age was 39.

• Analysed by sex, 135,500 (86.2%) were males.

• The working population in Mainland China generally had relatively higher educational attainment.


• Some 55.4% of them had secondary or matriculation education and 33.2% had tertiary education.

• 72.7% were employees; 19.8%, employers; and 7.5%, self-employed persons.

• Nearly all the employees (95.3%) were employed by companies in Hong Kong to work in Mainland China.


Hong Kong residents who had worked in mainland China by occupation in June 2001

Occupation No. of Person (‘000)

Percentage (%)

Compared to all employed persons in HK (%)

Managers and administrators

67.8 35.5 8.1

Professionals and associate professionals

81.5 42.7 23.5

Clerks 15.2 8.0 17.5

Service workers and shop sales workers

6.3 3.3 14.9

Craft and related workers 10.6 5.5 9.4

Plant and machine operators and assemblers

4.6 2.4 7.7

Elementary occupations 4.2 2.2 18.8

Others 0.7 0.4 0.2

Overall 190.8 100.0 100.0

Hong Kong residents working in Mainland China by occupation in 1998

Planet and machine operators & assemblers

3% Elementary occupations

0%

Clerks6%

Professionals & associate

professionals 35%

Managers & administrators

44%

Craft & related workers

9%

Service workers & shop sales workers

3%

• 43% were in the wholesales, retail and import/export trades, restaurants and hotels sector;

• 37.8% were in the manufacturing sector.

• The percentage of those engaged

in manufacturing sector in 1998 decreased from 58.0% in October 1995 to 37.8% in June 1998.


• On the contrary, the percentage of those engaged in the wholesale, retail and import/export trades, restaurants and hotels sector was higher.


Hong Kong residents who had worked in mainland China by industry in June 2001

Industry No. of Person (‘000)

Percentage (%)

Compared to all employed persons in HK (%)

Manufacturing 71.2 37.3 10.0

Construction 5.2 2.7 8.9

Wholesale, retail, and import/export trades, restaurants and hotels

83.5 43.8 30.5

Transport, storage and communications

6.7 3.5 10.8

Financing, insurance, real estate and business services

18.0 9.5 14.4

Community, social and personal 5.3 2.8 24.7

Others 0.9 0.5 0.7

Overall 190.8 100.0 100.0

Hong Kong residents who had worked in the Mainland China during the 12 months before enumeration by no. of times having worked in the Mainland China (1998 and 2001)Number of times having

worked in the mainland of China

No. of persons (May-Jun 1998)(‘000)

% No. of persons (Apr-Jun 2001)(‘000)

%

1-3 days 23.23 14.8 21.9 11.5

4-9 days 20.9 13.3 18.0 9.4

10-19 days 26.0 16.5 30.3 15.9

20-29 days 25.4 16.2 25.0 13.1

30-49 days 38.9 24.7 36.3 19.0

> 50 days 22.9 14.5 58.4 30.6

Unknown - - 0.9 0.5

Total 157.3 100.0 190.8 100.0

Median (times) 20 26

Therefore:1. Trans-border labour flow has been the cent

ral part of the globalization process, especially, in trans-border making between China and Hong Kong in the 90s and this will continue in the coming years.

2. The picture foretold a process of “economic integration” from below emerged in early 1990s, long before the state discourses proliferated ten years later.


Topic 4a Trans-border Flow: Between Hong Kong and Mainland China.

Documents

transborder context

globalization studies

transborder flow

transborder phenomenon

transborder urbanism

transborderborder context

urban governance studies

forms of governance