Discourse on Industrial Location and post-war Economic Construction Plan in 1940s China

In the early 1940s, when various concerns about the reconstruction of China after the war began in earnest, interest in the theory of industrial location spread as a prerequisite for ‘industrialization’, which emerged as a core task for building ‘New China’. Accordingly, discussions were held to accept Alfred Weber’s theory while at the same time modifying it to suit Chinese reality. Weber’s theory of seeking the best industrial location through comparative analysis of economic conditions could not capture the complex changes and situations of reality. Above all, in Chinese society, which had experienced a long period of war, concerns about China’s security after the war were great, so proposals about the location of industries that took national security issues into account were widely raised. While it would be ideal to find an industrial site that satisfies both economic conditions and national security, there has been much discussion about what to do when both factors cannot be met at the same time. In particular, since the 1930s, as the discourse on the ‘planned economy’ became popular, discussions and concerns about industrial locations have been actively developed in the context of ‘planning’ post-war economic construction. This paper analyzes the content of these discussions in detail and explores the historical implications of the ideas on nation-building proposed in 1940s China.