Policy Mobilities and the China Model: Pairing Aid Policy in Xinjiang
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The article is very interesting, but the concept of policy mobilities must be pointed in order to define the framework of the analysis. In what sense pairing aid policy in Xinjiang region is an example of policy mobility.
On the other hand what kind of results that we can measure? The results from table 1 only show the increase in export's and the decline of import´s, on foreign trade, and an increase in income of rural residents. It will be interesting to reflect on those results to the region.
Although the legend error, there are more colours than just the red, a brief review on the map will be interesting.
Some brief considerations:
In figure 1 is not clear the arrow from States to Capital;
Some acronyms must be described (ex BRPA IRTC or even foreign direct investment (FDI);
Please take in attention references in lines 253, 291,331,375,420476, 498;
The sentence on line 362/363 is not clear and ended with : as line 401;
In line 500/5001 the example must be more explicit.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
Point 1: The article is very interesting, but the concept of policy mobilities must be pointed in order to define the framework of the analysis. In what sense pairing aid policy in Xinjiang region is an example of policy mobility.
Response 1: Thank you very much for these kind comments and for your helpful suggestions. The paragraphs dealing with the concept of policy mobilities and its application in pairing aid policy have been expanded in much more detail in 2.3, “our concern is to explore how emergent geographies of policy are ‘‘made up,” how they are socially constructed and spatially constituted in the Chinese context, which resonates with scholarship on the theory of “policy mobilities”, the processes of assemblage, mobilization, and mutation of policies.” “We argue that three types of policy elements can be theoretically mobilized within the relevance of the policy mobilities framework: (1) advanced expertise from agencies (2) direct capital flows led by state powers (3) projects based on national or private firms.” “In so doing, the paper extends this theoretical framework of policy mobilities to the domain of regional coordination policies in the context of China model, showing how this is a fruitful way to trace the heterogeneity of neoliberal processes across geographical landscapes.”
Point 2: On the other hand what kind of results that we can measure? The results from table 1 only show the increase in export's and the decline of import´s, on foreign trade, and an increase in income of rural residents. It will be interesting to reflect on those results to the region.
Response 2: Thank you for this insightful comment. In this revision we have tried to explain statements in 3.1 based on the data of table 1, although not too much quantitative analysis measured.
Point 3: Although the legend error, there are more colours than just the red, a brief review on the map will be interesting.
Response 3: Thank you for this very important suggestion. We have revised the legend in the Fig 3. A brief review on the map is from line 394 to 397.
Some brief considerations:
Point 4: In figure 1 is not clear the arrow from States to Capital;
Response 4: Thank you for this comment which is important and helpful. I have revised the figure 1 and changed the arrow direction to Xinjiang and advanced provinces by both the centralization of state power and institutional geometry. In the revised version we also added more statement on the Fig.1 , as “The first is the dominant role of the central government, especially the party-state mechanism, which holds the final administrative power and orchestrates institutional geometry for pairing aid policy, as shown in Fig. 1.”in 2.4
Point 5: Some acronyms must be described (ex BRPA IRTC or even foreign direct investment (FDI);
Response 5: Thank you for pointing out this weakness. In this revised version we described all the acronyms.
Point 6: Please take in attention references in lines 253, 291,331,375,420,476, 498;
Response 6: Thanks a lot for your suggestions. We have done two things. Firstly, we revised all the references in the paper. Secondly, due to different version of Microsoft WORD, a lot of space characters have been deleted automatically. In the revised version, we checked all the space characters in order to make it smooth. Also checked include a few minor errors and typos.
Point 7: The sentence on line 362/363 is not clear and ended with: as line 401;
Response 7: Thank you for these helpful points. We have made an effort to clarify the points by explaining in more detail favorable industrial policy packages and fixed proportion of annual financial budget in these sentences.
Point 8: In line 500/5001 the example must be more explicit.
Response 8: Thank you for pointing this out. We have we have tried to specify much more clearly the example by introducing that “Zhejiang Agricultural Development Group, a state owned enterprise in Zhejiang, took charge of selling fruits grown in Aksu to 10 cities and more than 100 markets in Zhejiang. 28% of fruits grown in Aksu, Xinjiang were sold to Zhejiang in 2015”.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
In this work the authors ask whether the theory of "policy mobilities" could be considered as an important framework for analyzing the Chinese regional strategies for harmonious regional coordination, which also constitutes the Chinese model, and whether it is rather unique with respect to the main case studies analyzed in the literature. To answer this question, the case of the Xinjiang region is examined in the article. In particular, Chinese pairing aid initiatives could be seen as the attempt to reach a best practice from which it is also possible to draw good lessons. This is relevant since today we can observe an encreasing inequality at world level and also the unbalanced development of many territorial areas. Therefore, the topic dealt with by the authors is of great importance for the global political design of the human future. The writing is clear and themes are adequately investigated. Bibliographical references are adequate.
Lines 316 and 318: it is necessary to explain the acronyms, for example: IRCT and BRPA.
Line 362: "pairing air" should be "pairing aid".
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
Point 1: In this work the authors ask whether the theory of "policy mobilities" could be considered as an important framework for analyzing the Chinese regional strategies for harmonious regional coordination, which also constitutes the Chinese model, and whether it is rather unique with respect to the main case studies analyzed in the literature. To answer this question, the case of the Xinjiang region is examined in the article. In particular, Chinese pairing aid initiatives could be seen as the attempt to reach a best practice from which it is also possible to draw good lessons. This is relevant since today we can observe an encreasing inequality at world level and also the unbalanced development of many territorial areas. Therefore, the topic dealt with by the authors is of great importance for the global political design of the human future. The writing is clear and themes are adequately investigated. Bibliographical references are adequate.
Response 1: Thank you for these helpful points.
Point 2: Lines 316 and 318: it is necessary to explain the acronyms, for example: IRCT and BRPA.
Response 2: This is a good point and clearly was a deficiency of the first draft. Thank you for pointing out this weakness. In this revised version we described all the acronyms.
Point 3: Line 362: "pairing air" should be "pairing aid".
Response 3: Thanks a lot for your suggestion. We have revised these typos accordingly.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Only a period sign on line 403
