Economic reforms have triggered internal migrations within China. Click on the image for more information.

Chinese Economic Reform (Chinese: 改革开放; pinyin: Găigé kāifàng) refers to the program of economic changes called "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" in the mainland of the People's Republic of China (PRC) that were started in 1978 by pragmatists within the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by Deng Xiaoping and are ongoing as of the early 21st century. The goal of Chinese economic reform was to generate sufficient surplus value to finance the modernization of the mainland Chinese economy. Neither the socialist command economy, favored by CPC conservatives, nor the Maoist attempt at a Great Leap Forward from socialism to communism in agriculture (with the commune system) had generated sufficient surplus value for these purposes. The initial challenge of economic reform was to solve the problems of motivating workers and farmers to produce a larger surplus and to eliminate economic imbalances that were common in command economies. Download high resolution version (860x630, 149 KB)This map was based on results from retrospective questions in the 1990 census. ... Download high resolution version (860x630, 149 KB)This map was based on results from retrospective questions in the 1990 census. ... Pinyin (拼音, Pīnyīn) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration to roman script) for Standard Mandarin used in the... Economics (deriving from the Greek words οίκω [okos], house, and νέμω [nemo], rules hence household management) is the social science that studies the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. ... Socialism with Chinese characteristics (Chinese: 具有中国特色的社会主义 pinyin: JùyÇ’u Zhōngguó tèsè de shèhuìzhÇ”yì) is an official term for the mixed economy of the Peoples Republic of China as it transitions from an economy based on public ownership of means of production to an economy... The highlighted area in the map is what is commonly known as mainland China. Mainland China (Simplified Chinese: 中国大陆; Traditional Chinese: 中國大陸; Pinyin: Zhōnggúo Dàlù, lit. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Pragmatism is a school of philosophy which originated in the United States in the late 1800s. ... The Communist Party of China (CPC) (official name) or Chinese Communist Party (CCP) (Simplified Chinese: 中国共产党; Traditional Chinese: 中國共産黨; Pinyin: Zhōngguó GòngchÇŽndÇŽng) is the ruling political party of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (Simplified Chinese: 邓小平; Traditional Chinese: 鄧小平; Pinyin: Dèng XiÇŽopíng; Wade-Giles: Teng Hsiao-ping; August 22, 1904–February 19, 1997) was a leader in the Communist Party of China (CPC). ... The 21st century is the century that began on 1 January 2001 and will last to 31 December 2100. ... Modernization is closely linked to classical liberalism. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... A planned economy is an economic system in which economic decisions are made by centralized planners, who determine what sorts of goods and services to produce, and how they are to be priced and allocated. ... Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛澤東思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng Sīxiǎng), also called Marxism-Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM), is a variant of communism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893–1976). ... The Great Leap Forward (Simplified Chinese: 大跃进; Traditional Chinese: 大躍進; Pinyin: Dàyuèjìn) of the Peoples Republic of China was an economic and social plan to use Chinas vast population to rapidly transform mainland China from a primarily agrarian economy dominated by peasant farmers into a modern, industrialized... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines, and may also refer to political movements that aspire to put these doctrines into practice. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ...

Chinese economic reform has been undertaken through a series of phased reforms. In general, these reforms were not the results of a grand strategy, but as immediate responses to pressing problems. In some cases, such as the closing of state enterprises, the government has been forced by events and economic circumstances to do things that it did not want to do.

Although Chinese economic reform has been characterised by many in the West as a return to capitalism, Chinese officials have insisted that it is a form of socialism, because to do otherwise would call into question the validity of Marxism and the legitimacy of the regime. However, they have not argued against the premise that many of the reforms involve adopting economic policies that are in use in capitalist nations, and one of the premises of Chinese economic reform is that China should not avoid adopting "whatever works" for ideological reasons. For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ... Marxism is the philosophy, social theory and political practice based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German socialist philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary. ... Seek truth from facts (Chinese: 实事求是, pinyin: shí shì qiú shì) is a slogan in the Peoples Republic of China referring to pragmatism. ... An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ...

In addition, many of the economic structures that have been created in the course of Chinese economic reform may appear superficially similar to those found in other nations, but are in fact quite unique.

History of Chinese Economic Reform

The first reforms in the late 1970s and early 1980s consisted of opening trade with the outside world, instituting the contract responsibility system in agriculture, by which farmers could sell their surplus crops on the open market, and the establishment of township village enterprises. The reforms of the late 1980s and early 1990s focused on creating a pricing system and decreasing the role of the state in resource allocations. The reforms of the late 1990s focused on closing unprofitable enterprises and dealing with insolvency in the banking system. After the start of the 21st century, increased focus has been placed on the gap between rich and poor in China. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1971 to 1980, inclusive. ... MacGyver - 1980s hero The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... Most of the economic growth of the 1980s and beyond with the notable exception of Dengs initial land reforms have been concentrated in the coastal cities such as Shanghai and Canton. ... The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive. ... For other uses, see Bank (disambiguation). ...

Chinese economic reform, unlike perestroika, has been an economic success, generating over two decades of rapid economic growth. The standard of living of most Chinese has improved markedly since 1978. The CCP goal of modernization also seems to be moving forward. Throughout China one can witness the rapid modernization of infrastructure, including new superhighways, airports, and telecommunications facilities. Shanghai now has a magnetic levitation train (the first commercial maglev in operation in any country). Poster showing Mikhail Gorbachev Perestroika ( , Russian: ) is the Russian word (which passed into English) for the economic reforms introduced in June 1987 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. ... The Standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people and the way these services and goods are distributed within a population. ... A highway is a major road within a city, or linking several cities together. ... BlackBerry 7100t Telecommunication refers to the communication of information at a distance. ... Situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in Eastern China, Shanghai (Chinese: 上海; pinyin: ; Shanghainese: ) is Chinas largest city by population. ... Transrapid at the Emsland test facility Transrapid maglev in Shanghai Magnetic levitation transport, or maglev, is a radically new form of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles via electro-magnetic energy. ...

Chinese economic reform has consisted of a large number of different changes. There are several principles which appear to underlie the program. The first is pragmatism, which is embodied in Deng Xiaoping's dictum to seek truth from facts. The criteria for success are determined by experiment rather than by ideology. The second is incrementalism. Instead of announcing and implementing a national program, typically, an idea is implemented locally or in a particular economic sector, and if successful it is gradually adopted piecemeal throughout the nation. Seek truth from facts (Chinese: 实事求是, pinyin: shí shì qiú shì) is a slogan in the Peoples Republic of China referring to pragmatism. ...

The first parts of Chinese economic reform involved implementing the contract responsibility system in agriculture, by which farmers were able to retain surplus over individual plots of land rather than farming for the collective. This was followed by the establishment of township and village enterprises, which were industries owned by townships and villages. An open door policy was introduced by which the PRC began to allow international trade and foreign direct investment. These initiatives immediately increased the standard of living for most of the Chinese population and generated support for later, more difficult, reforms. Contract responsibility system. ... Within China, most of the economic growth of the 1980s and 1990s with the notable exception of Dengs initial land reforms have been concentrated in the coastal cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou. ... PRC is a common abbreviation for: Peoples Republic of China Palestinian Red Crescent Popular Resistance Committees This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Foreign direct investment (FDI) is the movement of capital across national frontiers in a manner that grants the investor control over the acquired asset. ...

The second phase of reform occurred in the 1980s and was aimed at creating market institutions and converting the economy from an administratively driven command economy to a price driven market economy. This difficult task of price reform was achieved using the dual-track pricing system, in which some goods and services were allocated at state controlled prices, while others were allocated at market prices. Over time, the goods allocated at market prices were increased, until by the early-1990s they included almost all products.

In the 1990s, the focus of the reform was to create a viable banking system which could control the economy via monetary policy and issue loans on the basis of profit and loss, rather than by political orders. In the late-1990s and early-2000s, the focus was also on industrial reform, which involved the painful closing of unprofitable state-owned factories and the development of social security systems. Central banks set monetary policy. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... For specific national programs, see Social Security (United States), National insurance (UK), Social Security (Sweden) Social security primarily refers to a field of social welfare concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ...

Comparison to Perestroika

Chinese economic reforms occurred at almost the same time as perestroika in the Soviet Union, yet perestroika has been widely judged to be a failure while Chinese economic reform has been widely considered to be a success. This is largely because the Soviets largely focused their efforts on developing heavy industry, which only affects a small group. In China the emphasis was on agriculture and light industry, which produces immediate winners because the goods produced are consumed by a large portion of the population. Poster showing Mikhail Gorbachev Perestroika ( , Russian: ) is the Russian word (which passed into English) for the economic reforms introduced in June 1987 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. ...

See also

• Special Economic Zone
• Economy of the People's Republic of China