Reform and opening policy

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Shenzhen , one of the first special economic zones in China , is often referred to as the " Silicon Valley of China". After the "reform and opening up", many high-tech companies such as Huawei and ZTE were founded here.
The Pudong district in Shanghai , one of the symbols of China's reform and opening up.

Reform and opening policy ( Chinese  改革 開放  /  改革 开放 , Pinyin gǎigékāifàng ) is the political slogan with which the economic reforms under Deng Xiaoping and the opening policy of the People's Republic of China towards the world and especially the West are described. This phase of Chinese politics officially began in 1978 with the Four Modernizations . An end to this phase has not yet been announced.

After the Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong , the “ Outstanding Leader ” Deng Xiaoping started the “ Boluan Fanzheng ” program, which formed the basis for “reform and opening up”. In December 1978, Deng became China's new supreme leader and started reform and opening up. In the 1980s, there were a number of political reforms carried out by Deng Xiaoping, Zhao Ziyang, and others. However, the reforms ended in 1989 due to the bloody massacre of civilian protesters on Tiananmen Square . After this Tiananmen massacre in 1989, both political reforms and economic reforms stagnated, but were resumed after Deng Xiaoping's tour to the south in 1992. In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). In 2010, China overtook Japan to become the second largest economy in the world .

According to the World Bank , China's real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 48-fold between 1978 and 2014, labor productivity per employed person increased nine- fold between 1980 and 2012, and the export ratio to GDP increased from 4.5% in 1978 to 22% in 2014. On the other hand, corruption and increasing economic inequality were serious problems.

China's economy before reform

Development of the gross domestic product (nominal value) from 1952 to 2015 in the USA, China, Japan and India

Until the beginning of the 19th century, the economic system of the Chinese Empire was among the largest and most developed in the world. The 18th century thinker Adam Smith described China as one of the richest, most fertile, most cultured and most urbanized countries in the world in his major work The Wealth of Nations . The First Opium War (1839–1842) marked a turning point in the history of China and ultimately led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty , which was in power from 1644 to 1911. In the 1930s, under the rule of the Kuomintang, a modern industrial sector was developed that resulted in modest but significant economic growth. Before the collapse of international trade as a result of the Great Depression , China gained a share of world trade and a degree of openness that was only achieved again after 60 years. In addition, China's economy suffered severe shocks from the war against Japan and the civil war (1927–1949).

In 1950, shortly after Mao Zedong came to power , China was one of the poorest countries in the world . Roughly 90% of the population lived in the countryside, and accordingly agriculture was the dominant economic sector . Based on the Soviet model, Mao set up a planned economy and had electricity plants and irrigation systems set up to improve the infrastructure, but the economy stagnated nonetheless. From 1958, Mao made the Great Leap Forward . This multi-year campaign, finally abandoned in 1961 because of failure, resulted in a huge famine, killing at least 15, if not over 45 million, and weakening the economy even further. At that time, China was isolated in global foreign trade and practically only had economic relations with the Soviet Union , North Korea or North Vietnam . In 1978, when economic reforms began, China had a population of almost one billion, but it was 32nd in the world in foreign trade and produced only 1% of world trade. Compared to other East Asian countries such as Japan , South Korea and the Republic of China on Taiwan , China was economically behind at the time. After Mao's death in 1976, the Chinese Communist Party therefore decided to liberalize the economy in order to maintain its power.

Stages of reforms

1978 to 1984

Deng Xiaoping's picture in Shenzhen.

After the gang of four was ousted and Deng Xiaoping came to power, he began in 1978 with the implementation of the " Four Modernizations " set as goals by Zhou Enlai in 1963 and initially concentrated on reforms in agriculture. He introduced the household responsibility system ( Chinese 家庭 聯產承包 責任制  /  家庭 联产承包 责任制 , Pinyin Jiātíng liánchǎn chéngbāo zérènzhì ). In the process, the land of the People's Communes was divided into private parcels, and locally responsible persons were now responsible for the profits and losses of the companies under them, while the system of the Iron Rice Bowl was retained. This change resulted in a significant increase in the standard of living for large parts of the population.  

Shenzhen Bay

For the first time since the Kuomintang era, the country was opened to foreign direct investment . To this end, Deng set up special economic zones in Shenzhen , Zhuhai , Shantou and Xiamen . These regions turned out to be engines of growth for the national economy. On January 31, 1979, the Shekou (蛇口 工业 区) industrial area was established in Shenzhen and was the first experimental area to be "opened" in China. Under the leadership of Yuan Geng (袁 庚), the "Shekou model" of development was gradually formed, which is embodied in his famous slogan "Time is money, efficiency is life (时间 就是 金钱, 效率 就是 生命)", which then spread widely in other parts of China. In January 1984, Deng Xiaoping made his first inspection tour to Shenzhen and Zhuhai and praised the "Shenzhen Speed" and the success of the special economic zones.

Xiamen , one of the first special economic zones in China

1984 to 1993

Zhuhai , one of the first special economic zones in China

During this period, Deng Xiaoping expanded the scope of the initial reforms. Control mechanisms for monitoring private companies and government intervention were further reduced, and some state-owned companies that had become unprofitable were privatized. State control was decentralized so that provincial authorities could test ways into the business sector and privatize the state sector. Municipal and village enterprises ( Township and Village Enterprises , Chinese  鄉鎮企業  /  乡镇企业 , Pinyin Xiangzhen qǐyè ) who were under the supervision of local authorities, but are operated privately in the end, gained a significant market share at the expense of the state sector.

Conservative opposition leaders, led by Chen Yun, prevented numerous major reforms that were contrary to the interests of the representatives of the state bureaucracy. Corruption and rising inflation fueled general discontent. The Tian'anmen massacre of 1989 was followed by a conservative counter-movement that ousted some key reformers and threatened to reverse many of Deng's reforms. However, Deng stuck to the reform program and opened the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 1990 , which Mao had closed 40 years earlier. In 1990 the Shenzhen Stock Exchange was also opened. In early 1992 Deng Xiaoping made his " South Tour " and resumed the implementation of reform and opening up. Many reformists like Zhu Rongji were later promoted.

Shanghai Stock Exchange (Center).

During this period, the economy grew significantly but was hampered by heavy losses in the government sector. After problems with inflation in 1985, 1988 and 1992, the pace of privatization increased after 1992. The Chinese government recognized the private sector as an "addition" in 1988 and then as an "important addition" to the socialist market economy in 1999 .

1993 to 2005

In the 1990s, Deng forced numerous conservative opposition figures such as Chen Yun to resign so that radical reforms could be carried out. Even after Deng's death in 1997, the innovations were continued under his handpicked successors, Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji , both staunch advocates of reform. In 1997 and 1998 almost all state-owned companies were liquidated in numerous privatizations and their assets were sold to private investors. Between 2001 and 2004 the number of state-owned companies decreased by 48%. At the same time, tariffs and trade barriers were dismantled , the banking system was redesigned, much of the Mao-era social welfare system was abolished, the People's Liberation Army had to sell off numerous unprofitable military operations, inflation was reduced, and China stepped in after 15- year of negotiations in November 2001 at the World Trade Organization . These developments led to dissatisfaction, especially among laid-off workers from privatized state-owned companies.

In 2005 the private sector exceeded 50% of GDP for the first time and continued to grow afterwards. In the same year, China surpassed Japan as the largest economic power in Asia for the first time. Some state monopolies, especially in the oil and banking sectors, were retained.

2005 until today

The Hu Wen administration , the fourth generation of leaders in China , reversed some of Deng's reforms in 2005. State subsidies and controls over health care were increased, privatization ceased and monetary policy eased. As in the US, this led to a real estate bubble , so that land prices tripled. The newly established administration privileged the public sector in state investments, and large domestic companies could now compete with foreign competitors.

See also

literature

  • Daniel Ludwig: From developing country to global player: international development aid using the example of cooperation between the World Bank Group and China . Tectum Verlag, Marburg 2012. 109 pp. ISBN 978-3-8288-2897-1 .
  • Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik: Rural Enterprises in the People's Republic of China , in: Writings on regional and traffic problems in industrialized and developing countries, vol. 64.Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2015.
  • Zhenjing Li and Utz Dornberger: The importance of rural small and medium-sized enterprises for the modernization of China using the example of the food industry in Shandong Province. sept working paper no 8, 2001, University of Leipzig
  • Ferdinand A. Gul and Haitian Lu: Truths and Half Truths: China's socio-economic reforms (1978-2010) Chandos Publishing, Oxford 2011. ISBN 978-1-84334-628-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matt Rivers CNN: Inside China's Silicon Valley: From copycats to innovation. Retrieved July 11, 2020 .
  2. ^ Tom Whitwell in Shenzhen: Inside Shenzhen: China's Silicon Valley. June 13, 2014, accessed July 11, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Xinhua Headlines: The rise of China's Silicon Valley - Xinhua | English.news.cn. Retrieved July 11, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b Tong Qinglin (童青林): 回首 1978—— 历史 在 这里 转折 ( zh ) Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  5. ↑ Why China's Political Reforms Failed. Retrieved July 11, 2020 (American English).
  6. ↑ Wu Wei (吴伟): 80 年代 的 政治 改革 为什么 会 失败？ In: New York Times. December 22, 2014, accessed July 11, 2020 (Chinese).
  7. ↑ a b Andrei Yakovlev: Analysis: 25th Anniversary of the "South Tour" Deng Xiao Pings - On the History of Chinese Reforms | bpb. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  8. ↑ a b Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour . 2009.
  9. ↑ WTO | China - Member information. Retrieved July 11, 2020 .
  10. ↑ China's economy overtakes Japan . In: BBC News . February 14, 2011 ( bbc.com [accessed July 11, 2020]).
  11. ↑ GDP per person employed (constant 2011 PPP $) The World Bank, accessed February 20, 2014
  12. ^ Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) The World Bank, accessed February 20, 2014
  13. ↑ Bao Tong: How Deng Xiaoping Helped Create a Corrupt China . In: The New York Times . June 3, 2015, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed July 11, 2020]).
  14. ↑ Deng Yuwen (邓 聿 文): 站在 习 时代 ， 如何 评价 邓小平？ In: New York Times. February 13, 2018, accessed on July 11, 2020 (zh-cmn-hans).
  15. ↑ a b Shekou, a symbol of reform and opening-up - Global Times. Retrieved July 11, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Claus Hecking: You electrify a people. In: The time . February 2, 2017, accessed July 11, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Jan 24-29,1984: Deng Xiaoping visits Shenzhen and Zhuhai - China - Chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved July 11, 2020 .
  18. ↑ 'Shenzhen Speed': Thirty Years Later . In: Wall Street Journal . September 7, 2010, ISSN  0099-9660 ( wsj.com [accessed July 11, 2020]).
  19. ^ Ferdinand A. Gul and Haitian Lu: Truths and Half Truths . Chandos Publishing, Oxford 2011. p. 230