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Reviews 535 Thierry Sanjuan. A l'ombre de HongKong: Le delta de la rivière des Perles (In the shadow ofHong Kong: The Pearl River delta). Préface de Marianne Bastid-Bruguière. Collection Géographie et cultures. Série Etudes culturelles et régionales. Paris: Editions L'Harmattan Paris, 1997. 313 pp. The publication ofthis book is particularly timely since the birth ofthe Special Administrative Region ofHong Kong on July 1, 1997, has attracted new interest in this part ofthe People's Republic ofChina. Author Thierry Sanjuan proposes to set before us the process ofdevelopment ofthe Pearl River delta, following the creation ofthe Pearl River delta Economic Zone in 1994, from the standpoint of its history, geography, economy, and even its ethnic groups after the initiation in the 1980s of the economic reform policy ofthe central government. The Pearl River delta encompasses the central region of Guangdong Province and its political and administrative capital ofGuangzhou, the Special Economic Zones of Shenzhen and Zhuhai, and, at the moudi of the river, the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong and the Territory of Macau. Guangdong Province has had a long tradition of openness to foreigners, and the Cantonese have nurtured a strong sense ofautonomy from the national capital . To a great extent, the Chinese diaspora had its origins here, and in the 1980s this phenomenon played an essential role in the development of die province, in terms not only ofinvestments in industry and property but also ofits influence on the spirit ofindependence of the local population. In the period under consideration, the districts and cities of the delta have experienced excellent economic growth, at a rate far superior to the rest of the province. Even in Guangzhou, the nominal capital, economic growth has remained weak by comparison. Thierry Sanjuan's choice of the Pearl River delta as a subject of analysis is fully justified. The delta is offered as a model and laboratory of the new regional economics and die social disequilibrium generated by development, where the growing gap between the developed and undeveloped areas is seen as a reflection ofboth the regional disparities in China and die potential for expansion of growth from the coast to the interior. Sanjuan has given us a geographical study ofhigh quality that only a geographer and sinologue with experience in field research could produce. This is an original work, remarkably vivid and detailed, widi profuse illustrations and charts and supported by extensive data and a solid bibliography. In this book die author© 1998 by University identifies and analyzes the variouskeyelements ofeconomic growth that he observed in the Pearl River delta, in a way diat allows die reader to grasp how the modernization ofthe Chinese coastal zones is being accomplished. 536 China Review International: Vol. 5, No. 2, Fall 1998 After a comprehensive analysis—for example, there is a detailed description of the role of the hotel industry in the development of mainland China and its political, economic, and social functions—Sanjuan concludes by offering his insightful perspective on the future of the region. There are vital questions concerning the audiority of a center, whether national or regional, and the role it can still play in regional development, and the answers can be applied to the whole of China. Special emphasis is given to Hong Kong as part of the process of development in this region. Contrary to what the book's tide might suggest, the author does not offer support for the thesis that the delta is becoming "feudalized" by the powerhouse of Hong Kong. In the past, the delta owed much ofits development to contributions from Hong Kong, in terms of culture, capital, technology transfer, and industrial relocation. The region has profited thus far from being a buffer zone and has secured its continued development by playing a complementary role to the former British colony, now a new Special Administrative Region, which also offers the delta an opening to the international economy. A new economic redistribution has taken place in Hong Kong business enterprise, with joint ventures and local subcontracting profoundly transforming the delta region —but without creating new hierarchies or causing a general restructuring of the region. Sanjuan emphasizes that no new...

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