Local growth coalition: The context and implications of China's gradualisturban land reforms

China's urban land reforms are being implemented within a framework of gene ral economic reforms which are gradualist in nature. Thus, the urban land r eforms are moving step by step towards the establishment of a land market. This gradualism is developing in association with a redefinition of central -local intergovernmental relations in the reform era, and with the advent o f localism. In this context, gradual urban land reforms have become an impl icit programme to nurture local enterprises and developers, a means of fost ering local government-enterprise coalitions and an instrument to strengthe n local government's position in local development. During the systematic t ransition toward a socialist market economy, booming Chinese cities are for mulating informal local 'urban regimes' to compete for local growth by capi talizing on financial gains derived from a dual market of urban land and pr operty development.