DI ▁has ▁contributed ▁to ▁the ▁w iden ing ▁of ▁income ▁inequality ▁between ▁the ▁in land ▁and ▁coast al ▁regions ▁in ▁China .” ▁On ▁the ▁other ▁hand , ▁as ▁the ▁economy ▁continued ▁to ▁grow , ▁the ▁w iden ing ▁inequality ▁reached ▁a ▁critical ▁point ▁and ▁began ▁to ▁fall . ▁It ▁did ▁so ▁by ▁providing ▁employ ment ▁opportun ities ▁to ▁rural ▁un sk illed ▁labor , ▁knowledge ▁sp illo vers , ▁and ▁development ▁of ▁the ▁local ▁economy . ▁ ▁Labor ▁rights ▁ ▁As ▁noted ▁above , ▁in ▁attract ing ▁foreign ▁invest ment ▁the ▁central ▁and ▁local ▁govern ments ▁often ▁offered ▁prefer ential ▁treat ments ▁to ▁foreign ▁companies ▁including ▁the ▁lo osen ing ▁of ▁reg ulations . ▁One ▁consequence ▁of ▁this ▁r ush ▁for ▁foreign ▁invest ment ▁is ▁the ▁ab use ▁of ▁labor ▁prote ctions ▁in ▁the ▁special ▁economic ▁zones ▁in ▁China . ▁From ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 0 s ▁on wards ▁there ▁were ▁notable ▁fatal ▁acc idents ▁in ▁foreign - owned ▁fact ories ▁that ▁were ▁the ▁result ▁of ▁poor ▁working ▁conditions ▁and ▁long ▁working ▁hours . ▁Despite ▁some ▁government ▁response , ▁cases ▁of ▁foreign - owned ▁fact ories ▁explo iting ▁loop hol es ▁in ▁labor ▁reg ulations ▁remained ▁common . ▁ ▁The ▁most ▁dev ast ating ▁incident ▁was ▁the ▁Zh ili ▁Hand ic raft ▁Factory ▁fire ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 3 ▁that ▁killed ▁ 8 7 ▁workers ▁and ▁injured ▁ 4 7 , ▁out ▁of ▁some ▁ 4 0 0 ▁workers . ▁Since ▁the ▁ 1 9 8 0 s , ▁a ▁large