Deng Xiaoping and his economic reforms

Deng Xiaoping is one of the most prominent political figures in communist China. It was he who had to deal with the disastrous consequences of Mao Zedong's policy and the "cultural revolution" carried out by the famous "gang of four" (these are his companions). For ten years (from 1966 to 1976), it became obvious that the country did not make the expected "big leap", therefore the supporters of revolutionary methods are replaced by pragmatists. Deng Xiaoping attributed himself to them, whose policies are marked by the consistency and desire to modernize China, to preserve its ideological foundations and identity. In this article I would like to disclose the essence of the transformations carried out under the guidance of this person, and also to understand their meaning and significance.

Rise to power

Deng Xiaoping overcame the thorny career path before becoming the undeclared leader of the CCP. Already by 1956, he was appointed to the post of Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. However, he was removed from his post after ten years of service in connection with the beginning of the "cultural revolution", which provides for a large-scale cleaning of both the cadres and the population. After the death of Mao Zedong and the arrest of his associates, the pragmatists are rehabilitated, and already during the third plenum of the eleventh convocation party, Deng Xiaoping's reforms in China are being developed and implemented.

Policy features

It is important to understand that he did not in any way renounce socialism, only the methods of its construction were changed, and there arose the desire to impart a uniqueness, Chinese specificity to the political system in the country. By the way, the personal mistakes and atrocities of Mao Zedong were not advertised - the guilt fell mainly on the mentioned "gang of four".

The famous Chinese reforms of Deng Xiaoping were based on the "policy of four modernizations": in industry, the army, agriculture and science. Its final result was to restore and improve the country's economy. A specific feature of the course of this political leader was the willingness to contact the world, as a result of which foreign investors, businessmen began to show interest in the Middle Kingdom. It was attracted by the fact that the country had a huge cheap labor: the prevailing rural population was ready to work for a minimum, but with the maximum productivity, to feed their families. China also owned a rich resource base, so there was instant demand for government resources.

Agrarian sphere

First of all, Deng Xiaoping needed to carry out reforms in the Chinese village, because it was vital for him to support the masses in order to consolidate his figure in power. If under Mao Tse-tung emphasis was placed on the development of heavy industry and the military-industrial complex, the new leader, on the contrary, announced a conversion, expansion of the production of consumer goods, in order to restore domestic demand in the country.

People's communes were also abolished, in which people were equal, had no opportunity to improve their situation. They were replaced by brigades and households - the so-called family contracts. The advantage of such forms of labor organization was that the new peasant collectives were allowed to leave surplus products, that is, the overage could be realized on the emerging market in China and get profit from it. In addition, freedom was provided in setting prices for agricultural products. As for the land that the peasants cultivated, it was rented to them, but in time it was declared their property.

The consequences of reforms in agriculture

These innovations contributed to a significant improvement in the standard of living in the village. In addition, the development of the market was given an impetus, and the authorities in practice became convinced that personal initiative and material incentives for work are much more productive than the plan. This was proved by the results of reforms: in a few years the quantity of grain grown by peasants almost doubled, by 1990 China had become the first to harvest meat and cotton, and labor productivity indicators had increased .

End of international isolation

If you disclose the concept of "openness", it is worthwhile to understand that Deng Xiaoping was against a sharp transition to active foreign trade. It was planned to smoothly build economic ties with the world, the gradual penetration of the market into the unchanging command economy of the country. Another peculiarity was that all transformations were first tested in a small region, and if they were successful, they were introduced already at the national level.

So, for example, already in 1978-1979. In the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong, SEZs were opened - special economic zones, representing certain markets for local products, and business ties with investors from abroad were established. They were called "capitalistic islands", and their number grew quite slowly, despite the favored state budget. It was the gradual formation of such zones in the building of foreign trade that did not allow China to lose the lion's share of raw materials, which could be immediately sold for a very high price by Chinese standards. Also, domestic production, risking to be suppressed by imported and cheaper goods, did not suffer. Favorable ties with various countries led to the introduction and introduction of modern technologies, machines, factory equipment. Many Chinese went abroad to learn from their Western colleagues. There is an economic exchange of China with other countries, satisfying the interests of both sides.

Changes in the management of industry

As you know, before Deng Xiaoping was elected as the unofficial leader of China's CCP, whose economic reforms made China a powerful power, all enterprises were subordinated to the plan, strict state control. The new political leader of the country recognized the inefficiency of such a system and expressed the need for its renewal. For this, a method of gradual price liberalization was proposed . Over time, it was planned to abandon the planned approach and the possibility of creating a mixed type of managing the economy of the country with the predominant participation of the state. As a result, in 1993 plans were minimized, state control decreased, and market relations gained momentum. Thus, there was a "two-track" system of managing the economy of the country, which takes place in China to this day.

Assertion of the variety of forms of ownership

Carrying out one after the other reforms that transform China, Deng Xiaoping faced the problem of ownership. The fact is that the change in the organization of farming in the Chinese countryside allowed the newly-made households to earn money, and the capital grew to open their own business. In addition, foreign businessmen also sought to open branches of their enterprises in China. These factors have led to the formation of collective, municipal, individual, foreign and other forms of ownership.

It is interesting that the authorities did not plan to introduce such diversity. The reason for its appearance lies in the personal initiative of the local population, which has its own savings, to open and expand independently created enterprises. People were not interested in privatizing state property, they wanted to start their business from the very beginning. Reformers, seeing the potential in them, decided to officially fix the right for citizens to have private property, to lead individual entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, foreign capital received the greatest support from the top: foreign investors were given a range of various benefits when opening their own business in the territory of the Republic of China. As for state-owned enterprises, in order not to allow them to go bankrupt in the face of such a high level of competition, the plan remained, but it was reduced over the years, and they were also guaranteed various tax deductions, subsidies, and lucrative loans.

Value

It is impossible to deny that Deng Xiaoping spent a lot of work with like-minded people on the withdrawal of the country from the state of deep economic crisis. Thanks to their reforms, China has a significant weight in the world economy and, as a consequence, in politics. The country has a unique "concept of two-track economic development," combining command-administrative levers and market elements competently. The new communist leaders steadily continue the ideas of Deng Xiaoping. For example, the state has now put forward the goals of building a "medium prosperity society" by 2050 and eliminating inequality.