The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China

The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China
Author: Susan L. Shirk
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 411
Release: 2023-04-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520912217

In the past decade, China was able to carry out economic reform without political reform, while the Soviet Union attempted the opposite strategy. How did China succeed at economic market reform without changing communist rule? Susan Shirk shows that Chinese communist political institutions are more flexible and less centralized than their Soviet counterparts were. Shirk pioneers a rational choice institutional approach to analyze policy-making in a non-democratic authoritarian country and to explain the history of Chinese market reforms from 1979 to the present. Drawing on extensive interviews with high-level Chinese officials, she pieces together detailed histories of economic reform policy decisions and shows how the political logic of Chinese communist institutions shaped those decisions. Combining theoretical ambition with the flavor of on-the-ground policy-making in Beijing, this book is a major contribution to the study of reform in China and other communist countries. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1994. In the past decade, China was able to carry out economic reform without political reform, while the Soviet Union attempted the opposite strategy. How did China succeed at economic market reform without changing communist rule? Susan Shirk shows that Chine

How China Became Capitalist

How China Became Capitalist
Author: R. Coase
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2016-04-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1137019379

How China Became Capitalist details the extraordinary, and often unanticipated, journey that China has taken over the past thirty five years in transforming itself from a closed agrarian socialist economy to an indomitable economic force in the international arena. The authors revitalise the debate around the rise of the Chinese economy through the use of primary sources, persuasively arguing that the reforms implemented by the Chinese leaders did not represent a concerted attempt to create a capitalist economy, and that it was 'marginal revolutions' that introduced the market and entrepreneurship back to China. Lessons from the West were guided by the traditional Chinese principle of 'seeking truth from facts'. By turning to capitalism, China re-embraced her own cultural roots. How China Became Capitalist challenges received wisdom about the future of the Chinese economy, warning that while China has enormous potential for further growth, the future is clouded by the government's monopoly of ideas and power. Coase and Wang argue that the development of a market for ideas which has a long and revered tradition in China would be integral in bringing about the Chinese dream of social harmony.

How China Escaped Shock Therapy

How China Escaped Shock Therapy
Author: Isabella M. Weber
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2021-05-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 042995395X

China has become deeply integrated into the world economy. Yet, gradual marketization has facilitated the country’s rise without leading to its wholesale assimilation to global neoliberalism. This book uncovers the fierce contest about economic reforms that shaped China’s path. In the first post-Mao decade, China’s reformers were sharply divided. They agreed that China had to reform its economic system and move toward more marketization—but struggled over how to go about it. Should China destroy the core of the socialist system through shock therapy, or should it use the institutions of the planned economy as market creators? With hindsight, the historical record proves the high stakes behind the question: China embarked on an economic expansion commonly described as unprecedented in scope and pace, whereas Russia’s economy collapsed under shock therapy. Based on extensive research, including interviews with key Chinese and international participants and World Bank officials as well as insights gleaned from unpublished documents, the book charts the debate that ultimately enabled China to follow a path to gradual reindustrialization. Beyond shedding light on the crossroads of the 1980s, it reveals the intellectual foundations of state-market relations in reform-era China through a longue durée lens. Overall, the book delivers an original perspective on China’s economic model and its continuing contestations from within and from without.

China and Socialism

China and Socialism
Author: Martin Hart-Landsberg And Paul Burkett
Publisher: Aakar Books
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2006
Genre:
ISBN: 9788187879794

The Fastest-Growing Economy In The World Today Is That Of China. For Many On The Left, The Chinese Economy Seems To Provide An Alternative Model Of Development To The Of Neoliberal Globalization. Although It Is A Disputed Question Whether The Chinese Economy Can Be Still Described As Socialist, There Is No Doubting The Importance For The Global Project Of Socialism Of Accurately Interpreting And Soberly Assessing Its Real Prospects. Hart-Landsberg And Burkett S China And Socialism Argues That Market Reforms In China Are Leading Inexorably Toward A Capitalist And Foreign-Dominated Development Path, With Enormous Social And Political Costs, Both Domestically And Internationally. The Rapid Economic Growth That Accompanied These Market Reforms Have Not Been Due To Efficiency Gains, But Rather To Deliberate Erosion Of The Infrastructure That Made Possible A Remarkable Degree Of Equality. The Transition To The Market Has Been Based On Rising Unemployment, Intensified Exploitation, Declining Health And Education Services, Exploding Government Debt, And Unstable Prices. At The Same Time, China S Economic Transformation Has Intensified The Contradictions Of Capitalist Development In Other Countries, Especially In East Asia. Far From Being A Model That Is Replicable In Other Third World Countries, China Today Is A Reminder Of The Need For Socialism To Be Built From The Grassroots Up, Through Class Struggle And International Solidarity.

Rethinking Chinese Socialist Theaters of Reform

Rethinking Chinese Socialist Theaters of Reform
Author: Xiaomei Chen
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2021-03-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 047207475X

The profound political, economic, and social changes in China in the second half of the twentieth century have produced a wealth of scholarship; less studied however is how cultural events, and theater reforms in particular, contributed to the dynamic landscape of contemporary Chinese society. Rethinking Chinese Socialist Theaters of Reform fills this gap by investigating the theories and practice of socialist theater and their effects on a diverse range of genres, including Western-style spoken drama, Chinese folk opera, dance drama, Shanghai opera, Beijing opera, and rural theater. Focusing on the 1950s and ’60s, when theater art occupied a prominent political and cultural role in Maoist China, this book examines the efforts to remake theater in a socialist image. It explores the unique dynamics between official discourse, local politics, performance practice, and audience reception that emerged under the pressures of highly politicized cultural reform as well as the off-stage, lived impact of rapid policy change on individuals and troupes obscured by the public record. This multidisciplinary collection by leading scholars covers a wide range of perspectives, geographical locations, specific research methods, genres of performance, and individual knowledge and experience. The richly diverse approach leads readers through a nuanced and complex cultural landscape as it contributes significantly to our understanding of a crucial period in the development of modern Chinese theater and performance.

China’s 40 Years of Reform and Development: 1978–2018

China’s 40 Years of Reform and Development: 1978–2018
Author: Ross Garnaut
Publisher: ANU Press
Total Pages: 709
Release: 2018-07-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 176046225X

The year 2018 marks 40 years of reform and development in China (1978–2018). This commemorative book assembles some of the world’s most prominent scholars on the Chinese economy to reflect on what has been achieved as a result of the economic reform programs, and to draw out the key lessons that have been learned by the model of growth and development in China over the preceding four decades. This book explores what has happened in the transformation of the Chinese economy in the past 40 years for China itself, as well as for the rest of the world, and discusses the implications of what will happen next in the context of China’s new reform agenda. Focusing on the long-term development strategy amid various old and new challenges that face the economy, this book sets the scene for what the world can expect in China’s fifth decade of reform and development. A key feature of this book is its comprehensive coverage of the key issues involved in China’s economic reform and development. Included are discussions of China’s 40 years of reform and development in a global perspective; the political economy of economic transformation; the progress of marketisation and changes in market-compatible institutions; the reform program for state-owned enterprises; the financial sector and fiscal system reform, and its foreign exchange system reform; the progress and challenges in economic rebalancing; and the continuing process of China’s global integration. This book further documents and analyses the development experiences including China’s large scale of migration and urbanisation, the demographic structural changes, the private sector development, income distribution, land reform and regional development, agricultural development, and energy and climate change policies.

2050 China

2050 China
Author: Angang Hu
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 108
Release: 2020-12-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9811598339

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. This book is arranged and developed around the theme of “2050 China,” it analyzes the factors and advantages of the Chinese road to socialist modernization, explores and summarizes the development goal and the basic logic of the socialist modernization of China, and further shows the general basis of the primary stage of socialism. According to the report delivered at the 19th Party Congress, and according to the “two-stage” strategic plan, this book looks ahead in detail to the overarching objective and sub-objectives of essentially achieving socialist modernization by 2035, discusses the building of a great modern socialist country in all respects from the perspective of the Party’s six-sphere integrated plan of economic, political, cultural, social, ecological civilization, and national defense construction, and provides policy proposals. This book also analyzes the influence and the effect of the socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics on the world and it further presents the third centenary goal. In conclusion, this book is an elaboration of the work of the Institute for Contemporary China Studies, Tsinghua University. It reflects the intellectual innovation in the authors’ research on contemporary China, as well as the authors’ foresight and predictions about China’s future development.

Chinese Economic Reform

Chinese Economic Reform
Author: Bruce L. Reynolds
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2014-05-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1483277186

Chinese Economic Reform: How Far, How Fast? focuses on China's economic reform and tackles topics ranging from the reformed price system and the macroeconomic mechanism to the dual pricing system in industry. The rapid growth in money income and government deficit is also examined, along with the relationship between price level, money supply, and GNP. Agricultural reform and the shortcomings of China's banking system as a tool for monetary control are considered as well. Comprised of 17 chapters, this book begins with an analysis of the impact of the two-tier plan/market system on the Chinese industry, followed by a discussion on the dual pricing system in the industry and money and price level determination in China. The reader is then introduced to China's macroeconomic policy and how it has been influenced by the reform process; money and the consumption goods market; and issues in the structural reform of agriculture. Subsequent chapters focus on the banking system; economic policy and income distribution; trade, employment, and inequality in post-reform China; and the stock-share system as an avenue for reforming the Chinese economy. Economic liberalization in China is also compared with that in India. This monograph will be of interest to economists and economic policymakers.

The Socialist Market Economy in Asia

The Socialist Market Economy in Asia
Author: Arve Hansen
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2020-10-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 9811562482

This book is intended for policy-makers, academics and students of development studies, area studies, political economy, geography and political science. Three of the best global performers in terms of economic growth are authoritarian states led by communist parties. The ‘socialist market economy’ model employed in China, Vietnam and Laos performs better than the economic systems in countries at a similar level of income per capita on a wide range of development indicators, yet market reforms and governance failures have led to highly unequal societies and significant environmental problems. This book presents the first comparative study of development in these three countries. Written by country experts and scholars of development studies, it explores the ongoing quest for market versus state within their model, and the coherence of their development. Chapter 5 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Village China Under Socialism and Reform

Village China Under Socialism and Reform
Author: Huaiyin Li
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2009-03-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 0804771073

Village China Under Socialism and Reform offers a comprehensive account of rural life after the communist revolution, detailing villager involvement in political campaigns since the 1950s, agricultural production under the collective system, family farming and non-agricultural economy in the reform, and everyday life in the family and community. Li's rich examination draws on original documents from local agricultural collectives, newly accessible government archives, and his own fieldwork in Qin village of Jiangsu province to highlight the continuities in rural transformation. Firmly disagreeing with those who claim that recent developments in rural China represent a radical break with pre-reform sociopolitical practices and patterns of production, Li instead draws a clear history connecting the current situation to ecological, social, and institutional changes that have persisted from the collective era.