Industrial Development Case Studies of Japan and China
Senior 3 · Geography
Industrial Development Case Studies of Japan and China
Lesson 5 of 5
35 min
Let's begin
On 7 December 2015 Beijing declared its first ever "red alert" for air pollution. Schools closed, building work stopped and half the city's cars were ordered off the road, because the smog from coal-burning power stations, factories and traffic had become dangerous to breathe. China's industry had grown faster than any in history, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, but at a heavy price to its air, water and land. What drove this growth, and can China keep growing while cleaning up?
Definition
Foreign direct investment (FDI): money invested by foreign companies to build or buy businesses in a country. Migrant worker: a person who moves, often from the countryside to a city, to find work. Overcapacity: the ability to produce much more of a good than can be sold.
| Factor | How it helped |
|---|---|
| Raw materials | The world's largest coal output, plus iron ore, rare earth metals, oil and gas; what is lacking is imported |
| Energy | Coal-fired power, huge hydro-electric schemes such as the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze (fully working since 2012), and fast-growing solar and wind power |
| Labour | A vast, hard-working labour force; nearly 300 million migrant workers moved from farms to factories (National Bureau of Statistics, 2023) |
| Government policy | Reform and opening up from 1978; Special Economic Zones from 1980; five-year plans; the "Go West" policy from 2000; "Made in China 2025" (2015) for high technology |
| Capital and FDI | High savings, state banks, and foreign firms that brought money, technology and links to world markets |
| Market | About 1.4 billion people at home, and world export markets |
| Transport | Great ports (Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen), navigable rivers, expressways and the world's largest high-speed railway network |
| Education and technology | Rising numbers of engineers and scientists, and research in universities and firms |
| Political stability | A strong central government able to plan and build quickly |
| Belt and Road Initiative | From 2013, Chinese-funded ports, railways and roads abroad that secure raw materials and markets |
Worked example
Worked example 1: reading Figure 1. How many times more motor vehicles did China make than Japan in 2025?
34.53 ÷ 8.41 ≈ 4.1. China made about four times as many vehicles as Japan, but twelve times as much steel (960.8 ÷ 80.7 ≈ 11.9). China's lead is biggest in heavy, basic industries.
Worked example
Worked example 2: comparing Japan and China. Complete the comparison: raw materials, labour and government role.
Raw materials: Japan has very few and imports almost all; China has large reserves of coal and some iron ore but also imports. Labour: Japan's is small, highly skilled and ageing; China's is huge and once cheap, now ageing too. Government role: both governments guided industry, Japan through MITI after 1945 and China through reform, SEZs and five-year plans after 1978.
Warning
"Cheap labour" is not the whole story. China's wages have risen for years, yet industry keeps growing because of skills, infrastructure, supplier networks and government support. A good answer shows how the factors have changed over time.
CaspianReport: how China became the world's factory. As you watch, note the factors it gives and compare them with the table above.
Practice
Further reading
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
