Harmonizing Regional Development:  Challenges and Options

China’s remarkable success in modernizing its economy has been characterized by the glaring wealth gap between the coastal-urban regions and the inland-rural areas. How to contain this growing disparity across the country poses a major challenge to China’s policy makers in the 21st century. By reviewing the main causes of the disparity, this paper discusses the policy options to achieve a more harmonious regional development as the economy moves beyond the take-off phase of industrialization. 1