Rural Industrialization: A comparison of development planning in China and India

This paper attempts to show the very considerable differences in rural industry promotion and development in China and India. Both countries have a rural industrial sector with employment levels in the region of 20 million. Overall figures and characteristics are compared and contrasted. The Chinese planners stress skill formation and the development of regional industrial structures while employment per se is emphasized in India. This has considerable consequences for urban–rural relations, which are specifically discussed in the Chinese context. Finally, the paper shows how the expansion of the rural industrial sector enables the consolidation of the collective economy at a higher level and thus assists the implementation of socialist transformation.