Reworking uneven geographical development: the spatial logic of China's rural banking reforms.

This article examines China's rural banking reforms since 2003 as a state-led spatial project aimed at addressing uneven urban–rural development through financial policies. Drawing on financial geography and the concept of state rescaling, it argues that these reforms are not merely market-driven financial liberalization but part of a broader state strategy to reconfigure spatial inequalities rooted in China's historical urban–rural divide. The reforms have expanded rural financial institutions and credit access, contributing to rural development and poverty reduction while simultaneously serving as a spatial fix for overaccumulation in urban areas. The study highlights the importance of understanding the state–finance nexus through a relational and historically grounded spatial lens, emphasizing the ongoing institutionalized urban–rural differentiation in China's financial system.