In the last six years (1979-1984), the economic strategy pursued in Mainland China has been changed greatly in many areas, ranging from thought and theory to systems and to policy and measures. These widely implication changes, which affect all aspects of both the economy and the society, will have far-reaching impacts upon both the economic life of the one-billion people on the Chinese mainland and the future of the “Four Modernizations.” Undoubtedly, the outcome of these changes not only will concern the fate of the Chinese Communist regime, but will also affect the economic interests of other countries, and even the competitive situation between both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Not surprisingly, these economic changes, in addition to being of major concern to all Chinese, have attracted the attention of the world.
What on the whole is this structural reform going on in Mainland China? What are the concepts and the theoretical basis upon which these extensives changes are based? How is this reform being led? What exactly is there to reform? How is it being reformed? What are the obstacles to the reform? Where will reform lead? This manuscript is intended to answer this series of perplexing and complex questions.
Since the initiation of the structural reform, quite a few experts have written about it. Among these writings, however, few give an overall picture, while many deal with only one aspect of it. We are presented with pictures of individual tress, but not of the whole woods. In view of this lack of papers giving the whole picture, this study attempts to furnish a clear and concise picture of all the reforms. The goal is to help readers understand in a short time just what the reforms are, so as to leave readers with a comprehensive impression in “miniature.”
In this study, emphasis is laid on the discussion of Mainland China’s economic systein rather than on numerical analysis. In discussing this structural reform, comparisons between the past, the present, and the future are made as much as possible. In the main, the purpose of this research is to seek the truth and to explain problems. In addition to an introduction, the study is broken down into the following six parts:
1) Theory–including the guiding thought, theories, concepts, and operation of the reform;
2) Framework–including the fundamental structure for the reform in rural villages, cities, and foreign trade (open-door policy);
3) Content–including the orientation of the reform towards four key links: planning, circulation, distribution, and consumptions;
4) Assessment–emphasis is placed on the formula for reform, on its positive and negative factors, and on the likely outcomes of the reform;
5) Questions–the answers are sought to four basic questions: Peking’s attitude towards the reform; how far it will go; how long it will last; and whether or not there will be a reversal.
6) Conclusion–including suggestions dealing with the attitude towards the reform and the methodology for carrying it out.
