State policy and the globalization of Beijing: emerging themes

An emerging body of work has attempted to capture the formation and functions of the emerging global cities in Asia to add a new dimension to the global city literature. With economic reforms and open door policy, Chinese cities have become more and more integrated with the global economy and the global urban hierarchy, spearheaded by Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. This paper analyzes the salient features of emerging global cities in China and highlights the role of the state in globalizing Chinese cities. We examine the efforts of Beijing to make itself into a global city: attracting foreign investment, building a world-class central business district (CBD), constructing Zhongguancun as “Chinaʹs Silicon Valley,” and preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games. These themes are state-directed and involve many aspects of globalizing the city, which testifies to the difference in the process and mechanisms of the globalization in Chinese cities from their counterparts in the developed countries.