The Chinese onion effect

Aha, I found the article I was looking for a couple of days ago: here on ATOL. This was inevitable, and is a good thing. I blogged over a year ago about the ‘onion layer’ theory of the Chinese economy, and here it is in practice. As the article mentions, even the second-rank cities are facing stiff competition from India, Indonesia and other developing nations, so there will be pressure to move ever-further inland. I say this is good because it will bring greater prosperity to the poorer areas of China, and hopefully stem some of the human tide moving from these areas to the coast. Both will help to shore up social stability in rural China, which is vital for China in the long run if it is to be a peaceful member of the international community…