Economic and Technical Development Zones are established accompanied with the process of opening-up, as important composition of the opening-up strategy and city reform. The establishment of development zones started from the coastal areas as a strategy of opening-up, and then spread into central cities in the middle and western part of China. In this case, it has general meaning to research the state-level development zones in the central cities of China. The growth of development zones directly reflects the opening-up process of China. It plays an important role to promote the opening-up by summarizing the experience and problem covering the over 2 decades'growth of development zones in China. Although there are many research achievements from the academic circle regarding the development zones, it still requests more survey from the economic view to comment on the achievement and problem regarding development zones, and propose solutions for upgrading and transferring of function of the development zones. This essay starts from the view of system economy to explain the process of establishment and growth of development zones, and holds the opinion that development zones are the result accumulated through the institutional innovation since the establishment of P.R.C., as well as influenced by changes in the outside environment. It is the combination between the increment institutional revolution and marginal innovation. As the contract responsibility, development zones get rid of path dependence on traditional system, and struggle out of the restriction of internal distribution of administrative power, and promote the institutional change into an environment with overall coordination and development. However, out of the conflict of public and personal interest, as well as the imperfection for the current supervision system, the growth of development zones experience paradox. This essay, based on the theory of North Paradox, analyses the cost restriction and dual competition regarding the growth process of development zones, and explains the performance and composition of the paradox. 1) Paradox on scale and function: The function of development zones fails for improvement in spite of the expansion of scale. The push deriving from economic growth has been weakened; 2) Paradox on institutional innovation and regress: To ensure the maximum personal interest, development zones recovers the previous institution on its process for promoting institutional innovation; 3) Paradox on market separation and integration: As the important systematic products for market-leading economy, development zones should promote the market integration. However, in reality, development zones cause the market separation during the process; 4) Paradox on industrial gathering and cluster of enterprises; With advantage of incentives, development zones attract a cluster of enterprises, but fail to create an active gathering of particular industries; 5) Paradox on opening-up and block: As the result of opening-up, development zones are on the way for block themselves in reality. If those paradoxes are not able to be resolved, the growth of development zones can't play active function during the subsequent growth. This essay introduced many statistic figures and first hand information to comment objectively on the efficiency of development zones, and analyzed the necessity for upgrading and transferring of function for development zones. Finally, the essay proposed the opinion that under the background of economic globalization and speed-up regional economic growth, the development zones need practical transformation of function and improvement. The essay described effective measures to be taken regarding the transformation of function and improvement, and holds the opinion that development zones need to clarify their orientation during the globalization and development process of central cities, and plays an important role as connection point for internal and opening-up reform, regional incorporation, as well as incorporation between cities and countryside; With an effort for upgrading the function and industries, development zones should build the service-oriented economic structure as the pioneer for institutional innovation. Introduced Ningbo Economic & Technical Development Zone as an example, the essay analyzed in depth of the problems occurred during the growth process of the development zone, the efficiency, upgrading and transferring of function of development zone, to support all theories proposed with practical experience. |