Export-oriented cluster-based production cities in China after the 2008 financial crisis: adaptation and adaptability -evidence from Datang town, Zhuji county-level city

Abstract

China has long been regarded as the ‘world factory’ due to the mode of export-oriented industrialization, but this mode is currently faced with unprecedented challenges posed by the 2008 financial crisis and the rising cost of resources. Drawing upon the evolutionary approach to resilience, this study argues that Datang imbues itself with high resilience in response to changed business environment. Its high adaptation mainly originates from the adjustment of individual enterprises in terms of market reorientation and technological enhancement. Local government plays a supportive role in this regard through constructing a sock characteristic town which aims at promoting industrial agglomeration and innovation. Meanwhile, it also exhibits a certain level of adaptability by exploiting local uncommitted resources to diversify into culture and tourism industries. In all, the crisis serves as an opportunity for internal structural reconfiguration and Datang’s economy thus emerges from the crisis on a superior growth path.