Von ressourcenabhängigen, unvernetzten Industrien zu Industrieclustern? Das Beispiel der südchinesischen Großstadt Nanning

The development of Nanning, Southern China, a metropolitan region which has not received any international attention, is used to demonstrate that cluster policies applied in the context of less developed regions can be a useful tool to stimulate development if they are formulated with care. This paper argues for the need to use a conceptual framework which combines the cluster concept with value chain approaches. Based on case studies, this paper analyses the potential of three industries, i.e. the chemical, pulp and aluminum industries, to grow into larger, fully-fledged industrial clusters capable of stimulating substantial economic growth and creating jobs within the regional economy of Nanning. Of these industries, the aluminum industry is identified as having the potential to develop into a cluster if the firms will be able to (i) reduce their resource dependence and expand into higher value-added production, (ii) acquire foreign investors to get access to new technologies and markets and (iii) develop a broad institutional basis for this industry.