As mentioned before, since the early 20th century, the Jiangsu
coast has experienced a large-scale, planned and organized agricultural
development, and a rapid decline of salt making, which
represents a new stage of Jiangsu coastal land use and management
practices. In particular, the pilot projects at Nantong, southern coast
of Jiangsu Province, during AD 1896e1915 created a “Nantong
Pattern” (Jiangsu province archives, 1997), which was a historical
performance of decentralization and local autonomy, promoted the
development of coastal agriculture and diversity of land uses, and
improved the efficiency of land utilization and the adjustment of
economic structure; during that period, the local governments
were empowered more responsibilities in decision-making of
coastal development.