Section 2：Theoretical issues to be considered，and what is new？（Contributions）

There have been numerous theoretical and empirical studies of FEZs. Most of these studies focus mainly on the economic effects and roles of EPZs or SEZs in less-developed or socialist countries. Within these studies，Shenzhen SEZ is the one that has been studied the most，as it was one of the first established FEZs in China；in addition，it is also regarded as the most successful in China. Various studies have also focused on the theoretical aspects of FEZs in terms of structure and evolution.^[6] All these studies have discussed the theory and practice of FEZs from different viewpoints，and have provided important cornerstones on which to base further study.

However，there remain various issues to be considered. This research aims to consider and find the answers to these issues based on updated perspectives and research.

Issue 1：since “opening up”，China has experienced remarkable economic growth，and the old “state controlled” type of “planned economy” has been replaced by the new “market driven” type of “socialist market economy”. Foreign direct investment（FDI），an aspect attracted by the different kinds of FEZs in China，has been the most dramatic manifestation of China’s open door policy. Currently，34 years after “opening up”，many scholars and experts argue whether the FEZs in China still need to exist，as they are regarded as having accomplished their mission of boosting the country’s economy and helping the transition of the economic system.

Contribution 1：Therefore，one of the contributions this thesis has made is that it has undertaken an updated study of FEZs in China，and answered the question “is the model of the FEZ relevant to today’s China？” by studying the case of YEDA in Chapter 6. In Chapter 6，the objectives and characteristics are studied and updated. On the one hand，these objectives and characteristics of YEDA can help to distinguish ETDZs from SEZs；on the other hand，the new updated objectives and characteristics can indicate that FEZs，including ETDZs，are relevant to today’s China，as these ETDZs still have missions to finish and they will ultimately present new characteristics. In addition，the study of the economic effects of YEDA demonstrates how important YEDA is to its region. This constitutes another way of testing the significance of FEZs to modern China.

Issue 2：as mentioned previously，Shenzhen has been the most successful SEZ；it constitutes a paradigm from which many other FEZs in China learn，and has been studied the most frequently by scholars. However，there are many other types of FEZs in China，and the number of these FEZs is considerably higher than the number of SEZs. Although Shenzhen SEZs has always been a model that can provide other FEZs with experiences and lessons to learn from，there are nevertheless a larger number of other，different types of FEZs，which have adopted different ways of developing and managing. In other words，these other types of FEZs（such as YEDA），have learned from Shenzhen SEZ but they are not copying Shenzhen. They are different in characteristics，typologies and objectives，and they are organised in different ways. Therefore，it is valuable to update the study of Shenzhen SEZ through a study of another type of FEZ-ETDZ（YEDA）. ETDZs，as previously mentioned，are regarded as the main driver for China’s boosting of the economy and accelerating the transition of the economic system.

Contribution 2：What this research has contributed to the literature is that it has examined and analysed both SEZs and ETDZs（YEDA）. SEZ studies are reviewed in Chapter 4；YEDA as one of the ETDZs and as the case study for this research is examined，including its characteristics，objectives and governing system in Chapter 6. By using the studies of SEZs and by studying the case of the Yantai Economic and Technological Development Zone/Area（YEDA），the updated objectives，characteristics，governance structures and typologies of ETDZs will be identified. The objectives，characteristics and governing structures of YEDA are studied and discussed in sections 2 and 4 of Chapter 6. Based on the objectives，characteristics and governing structures of YEDA established in Chapter 6，together with the typology and evolutionary models discussed in Section 4 of Chapter 2，the typology of YEDA（one of the ETDZs）can then be recognised as a comprehensive type of FEZs. Therefore，after reading this thesis，the readers will be able to know more about both SEZs and ETDZs，and understand the similarities and the differences between the two types of FEZs in China.

Issue 3：There are many aspects that enable certain types of FEZs to successfully boost the economy. Some scholars have studied those driving forces which are helpful in establishing successful SEZs（e. g. Stefani，1983；Wang and Bradbury，1986；Wall 1991 and Li 1995 and Tatsuyuki，2003）and identified the factors that can lead SEZs to success. However，all the studies mentioned above are regarded as outdated. Several questions exist that cannot be answered by those studies. What are the chief aspects（or various key aspects）that will lead these zones to success？How and in what ways can these chief key aspects truly benefit investors？What is the most efficient way to lead these zones to success？Are some sort of driving forces more important than others？Finally，how can these driving forces be combined to most effectively attract different types of businesses and then lead a zone to success？By reviewing and analysing the face-to-face interviews，11 key factors or driving forces have been identified. In essence，not all the FEZs are able to possess all the factors to help achieve success. Therefore，it is worth researching the key driving force or forces that help fulfil the driving forces that can lead FEZs to success，particularly those FEZs which lack some of the driving forces.

Contribution 3：what this research has achieved is ascertain the answers to the questions above through researching what businesses and zone governors regard the key factors as being.

In order to answer the question above，several steps are undertaken within the research. The logical sequences of interviewees are firstly determined，based on the face-to-face interview forms，which are explained in section 8 of Chapter 5. Based on the logical sequence of each interviewee，5 general patterns have been identified（Section 3 of Chapter 7）. Each pattern stands for how each type of investor，and what different types of businesses or industries，usually considers when choosing a place to invest in. Then，each attractive factor is analysed and classified into 4 frequency and significance groups（see Section 1 of Chapter 8）. Through conducting the research described above，a model which leads YEDA to success has then been developed，which contains a hierarchy of the driving forces（Section 2 of Chapter 8）. Each of the driving forces within each hierarchy level are explained and discussed. Then，the combinations of these hierarchical driving force groups which have helped YEDA to attract different types of investors in different developmental stages are identified，based on the interview data.

Issue 4：As previously mentioned，the remarkable economic development of China since “opening up” has been widely recognised by people；nevertheless，it has also been remarked upon by many scholars，and even Chinese governors and people that this country has paid too high a price in achieving this economic growth；i. e. the fast economic development has been followed by high costs. It is the high costs that have caused Chinese people’s living standards not to have increased as fast as the economic statistics suggest. It is further noted，despite the impressive economic figures，China is still struggling to establish its own global brands and to own its own technology. As the engine that has been helping China in economic development，industrialisation and economic transition，ETDZs are then valuable to be studied in terms of what these problems are，how these problems have emerged and what can be done to deal with these problems.

Contribution 4：Therefore，what this research has also achieved is，by using the experience of YEDA，identified what problems have emerged and how they have emerged when adopting the key success driving forces.

All in all，through carrying out this research，apart from the combinations of hierarchy groups which can be used to attract different types of investors in different developmental stages，it has also been established that the special administrative system-the administrative committee of YEDA-is the origin of both the success and the problems. The characteristics of the administrative committee，as analysed，can be summarised as being a highly-administrative power，with a high autonomy in using this administrative power. Viewed negatively，the administrative committee lacks supervision by the local government and people. The leader of the administrative committee is akin to a “dictator”. Because of this “dictatorship”，decisions on offering privileges，offering services to investors and solving problems for investors are quicker than those of other Chinese “normal” administrative systems. This advantage is accepted and highly regarded by most of the interviewees. However，because of this “dictatorship”，the administrative committee consequently lacks supervision by the local government and people. The decisions made by the “dictator” then lack objectivity. What the “dictator” cares about is achieving economic targets and chasing up the economic figures which are set by central government，however，not what the economic figures mean to people，nor what the cost has been in order to achieve these figures，nor what technology has been learned or invented. Therefore，after conducting this research，two points are of note：

1. FEZs are still valuable to China in its economic development. New characteristics of FEZs can be assumed and FEZs will have a new meaning for China once new objectives are added.

2. Given the premise of maintaining a certain level of administrative autonomy，the level of supervision by local government and people should be increased. At the very least，people should have the right to know where their money has been spent. The ideal situation would be for the administrators to have the authority and flexibility to make quick decisions，yet if the authority has been abused or not，should be supervised by local government and people.