Bulletin Number Five 1985

is about 270,000) and traditional activities. Among all the SEZs, Xiamen has also th e best port facilities, including the newly constructed Dongdu New Port which can berth ships of 50,000 dwt. These factors , together with the fact that Xiamen has a lon g history of economic development and a pool of skilled labourers, have led to the idea of developing Xiame n from an export processing zone to an internationa l free port wit h comprehensive development in trade, commerce, finance, tourism and manufacturing, but with greater emphasis on the tertiary sector, particularly trade and finance. It would, therefore, be patterned very much after the Hong Kong and Singapore model, though in a smaller scale . When Zhao Ziyang visited Xiamen in November 1983, he has also brought up the idea of developing Xiamen into a free port as a feasible concept. The fact that Hu Yaobang (1981 )，L i Xiannia n (1983 )， Zhao Ziyang (1983) and Deng Xiaopin g (1984) have all visited Xiamen is an indication of it s importance and the expectations of the Chinese leaders in the future development of this area. Deng's remark that 'development of Xiamen SEZ should be speeded up and improved' may be less encouraging than his comments on Shenzhen and Zhuhai, but the concept of a free port for Xiamen is still being seriously considered. Conclusion Two basic concepts/models of SEZs were originally formulated by the Chinese leaders : one is to establish the SEZs in peripheral areas wit h fairly weak economic infrastructure but which can provide enough space for comprehensive development of different economic sectors — such being the case of Shenzhen and Zhuhai; the other is to set up SEZs in areas with established economies and population concentration but to designate a small enclave for modem export processing type of activitie s — examples being Longhu in Shantou and Huli in Xiamen . In the course of development of SEZs, it becomes apparent that the model of engaging purely in export processing, as in other developing nations of Asia, is being gradually rejected and is considered to have severe restrictions on the potentials of the SEZs. Thus, the trend is towards developing a complex of activities, embracing manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, real estate, trade, commerce and other services. On this basis, it is agreed that too small an area for an SEZ would make comprehensive and coordinated development difficult if not impossible. From the developmental and management points of view, it is necessary and even desirable to extend the areas of the existing SEZs (with the exception of Shenzhen which is already quite extensive). As a result, the area of Zhuhai SEZ has been extended from 6.8 sq. km. to 15.16 sq. km.; Shantou SEZ from 1.6 sq. km. to 52.6 sq. km.; and Xiamen SEZ from 2.5 sq. km. to 125.5 sq. km. Within this overall trend of development, the roles played by the different SEZs are by no means identical. Shenzhen SEZ and Zhuhai SEZ are truly experimenting with a foreign economic system an d have initiated a number of innovative measures having implications nation-wide. Shantou SEZ serves more as a growth centre for the revitalization of economy at a regional level (and in this case , the Chao-shan Plain). Xiamen SEZ, by incorporating the whole of the original city within the ambit o f the SEZ, is conceptualized as a model for developmen t into an international free port. Thus it is pertinent t o view each of China's SEZs as a different submodel within the overall open economic policy of the country. —Kwan-yiu Wong Chines e Law Programm e The Chinese Law Programme (formally designated Programme on Law and State-Building in China) was first launched by members of the GPA Department in 1981 under the direction of Dr. Byron S.J . Weng. In September 1982, it was expanded t o include other scholars and researchers in Hong Kong with interests in the study of law and legal development in China, with a Coordinating Committee chaired by Mr. Justice T.L . Yang. The day-to-day operations continued to be supervised by Dr . Weng. During the past four years, the Programme has sponsored four conferences on the CUHK campus. The first three dealt with the constitutiona l law of the PRC while the fourth was concerned with China's economic law. Out o f these conferences, the Programm has produced several publications, including: 1. Byron S.J. Weng, ed .， Studies on the Constitutional Law of the People's Republic of China, The CUHK Press ， October 1984. Second printing August 1985. 36 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS