Special economic areas: special-purpose regions are established not only by developing and transitive economies, but by developed countries as well, because their main goal is to help restructuring problematic regions and start the process of their economic development. The success of the economic reforms and creating of special, so called "open", economic areas, has moved China towards the economic level of developed countries. The article analyses the forms, results and influences of these open economic areas on the development of the regions. It also suggests the possibilities of the implementation of some types of the open economic areas, that have been successful in China, also in some regions in Slovakia.