In the past three decades, China has achieved phenomenal economic growth, an unprecedented development "miracle" in human history, while special economic zones (SEZs) and industrial clusters have served as two important engines of China's remarkable development, the World Bank said on Monday.

"The SEZs and industrial clusters have made crucial contributions to China's economic success. Foremost, the SEZs, especially the first several, successfully tested the market economy and became role models for the rest of the country to follow," the World Bank said in a report.

The Washington-based agency noted that together with the numerous industrial clusters, the SEZs have contributed significantly to China's gross domestic product (GDP), employment, exports, attraction of foreign investment and adopting modern management practices.

The World Bank estimated that as of 2007, China's SEZs including all types of industrial parks and zones accounted for about 22 percent of China's GDP, around 46 percent of the nation's foreign direct investment (FDI) and about 60 percent of exports.

Despite the great success of China's SEZs and industrial clusters, they also face many challenges to sustaining their success, including moving up the global value chain, the sustainability of the export-led growth, environmental and resource constraints and among others, according to the report.

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