Highlights :

• Since the mid-2000s, the center of gravity of China’s growth has shifted from the coastline to the inland and regional income gap has ceased to increase.
• This macroeconomic catch-up reflects, with a time lag, the rapid convergence process which has been taking place in China’s manufacturing industry since the end of the 1990s.
• The Chinese case confirms the existence of an unconditional and rapid convergence in manufacturing industry.

 Abstract :
Since the mid-2000s, the center of gravity of China’s economic growth has shifted from the coastline to the inland and the gap in GDP per capita between the two areas has narrowed. This macroeconomic catch-up reflects, with a time lag, the convergence process which has been at work in manufacturing industry since the end of the 1990s and suggests that China is becoming increasingly integrated in terms of technological level. This pattern is in line with a process whereby the inland catches up the labor productivity level of the coast thanks to the transfer of technology and capital from these most advanced regions.

 Keywords : China | Regional inequality | Manufacturing industry | Convergence | Growth

 JEL : F63, O14, O25, O53, R12