Evolution of China's politics and economy 1976-2005
Deng's Era 1978-92 
Post-Deng Era (1992 - 2005)
Jiang Zemin Administration (1992-2002) 
Hu Jintao's administration(2002-2012) 
Political
Economics
Politics
Politics
Economic
Open Door Policy [also political]
guanxi undermined the extent that incentive could drive production, as people realized that it wasn't hardwork that got you places - it was connnections
Market Mechanism
Believed in neo-authoritarianism, and still removed people who hindered his goals
Still declared a commitment to Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong thought, One-Party leadership, socialism and the dictatorship of the proletariat as part of his pragmatic ideals [still continued in ideology, given that it was a fundamental belief]
e.g The 4 Cardinal Principles:
Maintaining Socialism with Chinese characteristics [change in the characterization of socialism and Mao Zedong's Thought, in order to push his own agenda earlier]
Ideology: Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought (Modify to suit current standards)
Rule of CCP should be continued
Proletariat Dictatorship should be maintained
China must stick to Socialism
Lifestyle improvement: aimed to improve socio-economic equality domestically through the scientific outlook on development one of the guiding socio-economic principles of the CCP) + authorities also cracked down on social disturbances, ethnic minority protests, and dissident figures
Top-down reform was being threatened by the wishes for democracy [which was inheritly grassroot]. Students and other intellectuals came forward willingly, in terms of protesting and other forms of expressing their dissatisfaction.
A change in the way the economy ran: With the introduction of foreign companies, there was in increase in competitive and incentive to increase efficiency of production/output
Was pragmatic and flexible in his policies
Committed towards being more open to new ideas to reduce demands for greater political freedom (to an extent)
enhance material incentives through policies to credit those who worked hard [pay based on work done, not extremely standardized]
e.g Zhao Ziyang & Hu Yaobang who supported student reforms during unrest from 1987 – 1989
1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, using the PLA to crush student protestors
taxes, interest rates, prices
Change from the perception of a hostile world to claiming the West/foreign powers were need to promote development. [pragmatic choices]
Did not have a clear structure on how to build the economy (Wanted to make the definition of the new formula of Socialism vague in the Post-Mao era) --> Encourage participation of youth to offer new perspectives
reintroduced state control in some sectors of the economy EXAMPLES?
Economic decentralisation gives local governments strong fiscal motivation to develop the local economy
Economic
On May 1986, allowed political relaxation to encourage ideological flexibility and 'political reform'
Agriculture
Improved the education standards of Party cadres allowed to join the National People's Congress (60% of politburo had members with college qualifications during Deng's time)
1978 Household Responsibility System --> Farmers could lease land from the government and use it to cultivate their own crops once they had given the minimum to the government
Managed to achieve 10 years of rapid growth.
Rising wages, and a stronger yuan, also took a toll on export competitiveness.
"Three Represents" - building a party that will serve the interests of the people and govern for the people. Attempt to 'rule by consensus'.
Foreign Policy
Deng Xiaoping's Philosophy: 'Hide your ambitions and disguise your claws"
Limitations: incredibly vague with no targets made to hit.
Extremely idealistic and lacked ways for efficient execution - just policy promises made to abide by the wishes of the Chinese. Continuing on Deng's path by not setting hard targets.
Two-tier pricing system to ensure (1) continue the previous state-controlled price [to support the peasants] (2) change to create a more competitive market and incentive.
China focused on economic affairs, rather than international affairs
Relatively peaceful policy (e.g 1997 Hong Kong handover from UK to China) THIS WAS UNDER JIANG
Detailed explanations of events and points can be found here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=18xFOSxwIp9C4Dntdn5BpzsR3dNNDa8gJ1vThR2prbZs
Opening of China in the form of Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
Farmers were richer
its success changed CCP leaders' receptivity to market economy
However, Deng Xiaoping still remained paramount leader, and called the shots behind despite resigning from all positions in 1989 (after resigning from the Central Military Commission)
However, this further encouraged factionalism (in a more obvious manner) [although said phenomenon was already present in Mao's time] in the Party, and the establishment of an elite bureaucracy and a totalist ideology (Party-led, substantial public ownership and achievement of a common prosperity) ~ Raviprasad Narayanan + Allan Todd
e.g There was initial tolerance for the democracy wall established from 1976 to 1980. The Democracy movement also were able to publish pamphlets and publish magazines like the Beijing Spring
Economic ideology
Was pragmatic in shifting China towards a more capitalist-socialist balanced economy (i.e Economic Rationalisation) with 'authoritarian capitalism'
Consequences of Deng's economic reforms
Entered the World Trade Organization in 2001 [opening up to foreign intervention in the government control over the economy, all for the sake of economic development]
At the onset of reforms, China was among the poorest nations on earth and a predominantly rural, agricultural country. China had barely 25 years of history of central planning, which had been marred by the failure of the Great Leap Forward and the political disruptions during the Cultural Revolution
People-centered
The main task of Jiang's team was to revive confidence in China's reform programme, which had been badly shaken by the 1989 protests and the following suppression.
"Scientific development concept" - comprehensive, sustainable and coordinated planning
When central planning was relaxed, competition among regions and their enterprises became possible, and economic oligarchy was avoided. Gradual reforms meant that the physical and human capital built under socialism did not become obsolete as a consequence of a transition shock.
In particular, there were concerns that foreign direct investment - vital to China's reform programme - might fall. However, spearheaded by Japan, foreign businesses quickly resumed their interest taking a share of China's growing economy.
Introduction of Town-Village Enterprises
Most important to China's attempts at economic transformation, although major political reforms of the party and state were implemented over time, the state and the ruling party remained intact throughout, so China could focus on its economic and social transitions.
urban and rural development, regional development, economic and social development, environment, domestic development and international trade
From the 1990s, China became increasingly popular with foreign MNCs - this was a result of China possessing, in addition to a growing domestic market, a seemingly unlimited supply of cheap labour, disciplined by official trade unions and state repression.
led to a change in social structure - growing of a middle class
Medium-sized companies [from both rural and urban areas (TVE)] ended up becoming crucial to the economy given their relative autonomy and easier sizes to manage
This combined with large investments by China's SOEs, and the creation of new private industrial enterprises, led to a massive expansion of China's industrial development. The result was that, after a decline from 1978 to 1991 (because of the initial efforts of introducing 'free' market mechanisms, which resulted in teh closure of many factories and consequent unemployment), Chinese industry's share in GDP massively increased.
Positive Consequences
Negative Consequences
Older workers lost their iron rice bowl due to privatisation of firms, since young workers were granted more favourable labour contracts with higher pay
Wide divide in standards of living, For the SEZs, people tended to experience better standards of living since these areas tended to grow in economic growth & development
High unemployment (20% from late 1988) and high inflation arose from economic growth, which could not cope with China's lack of infrastructure
Healthcare reforms:In 2002, the party set a goal of turning China into a middle-income country with a “well off” population by 2020. Also designated more than 300 counties in 2004 (about 10% of the total) where a new “co-operative medical system” was to be tried (SARS crisis)
Social divide in the rise of distinct socio-economic groups [given the various groups of businesspeople, manual labour, and the rise of the middle class]. This also translated to a growing income disparity within the SEZ, and between the zone and the rest of China
Fewsmith - although CCP created ideal conditions under which 'the TVE sector grew dramatically', their prudent economic management allowed SOE sector to 'not fade away' but 'to dominate important sectors, particularly heavy industry'. These two factors created most ideal conditions, culminating in incremental industrial growth, dispelling any criticism of industrial decline under Deng.
Resistance to Deng's Political Ideology -- Students who had been involved in the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre previously had made calls for more democratic reforms (e.g Building the Goddess of Democracy in the Square, Fang Lizhi who advocated that more freedom would lead to the further modernisation of China
Shift away from Socialist principles --> China was increasingly dependent on fluctuations in international markets --> When China had to borrow from IMF and World Bank, had to abandon Socialist principles for neo-liberalism
Food shortages and wide fluctuations in prices for crops --> Lower Standards of Living
Party Building
Jiang's coming to power and responses
Party work mechanism
Rule by party
Party leadership
An autonomous government—one that neither represents a specific social class nor is captured by a specific social group—enables the central government to adopt highly inclusive economic policies that favour long-term economic growth of the whole society
Reinforced the credibility of reform over time. By undertaking reforms one step at a time, and starting with those most likely to deliver results, the government built up its reputation for delivering on reform.
"Third Generation" of Chinese Politics
Jiang's "Three Represents" - Portrayed as politically significant like Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory
Post-USSR Collapse Debates
A meritocratic promotion system gives local officials strong positive incentives and counters the negative consequences of decentralisation
Reform cadre/personnel system
open selection and competition for posts
"Peaceful evolution" into capitalism hotly debated - How the Chinese government would adapt to keep their communist government
Jiang's reflective approach
In China, reforms were slowed due to the change of world stage and considering how to avoid failure like the USSR
democratic recommendation and assessment
Corruption --> Establishment of princelings from party elites that got privileges (e.g Children of party officials got entry into universities, exempted from military service)
Institutionalization - prohibition on party and government officials from holding concurrent posts in enterprises
Regularization
Felt that debates were more focused on political reform and not enough for economic - Failure of USSR seemed due to economic failures, not political
Standardization
Writing party policy into state law
invoke party discipline to control state bureaucracy
Success: Discipline inspection sections came under high level of control, increasing efficiency
Increasing Influence 1989 - Replaced Zhao as Party Secretary 1993 - Elected State Chairman of PRC
Change: Manner of implementing Economic Policies
Jiang had a middle-course approach for compromise between left and right
Failure: No clear division of power and lacked a cleare outline on duties
Mao used "shock therapy" + planning economy = There was no flexibility to adjust the production outcome of the industries to be in line with demands and what was needed.
Students were inspired by Party officials (e.g Hu Yaobang) who had fallen from grace to be an icon to them and inspire the Democracy Movement
Jiang's supporters promoted - More centrist line than Zhu's
Deng used gradual refroms + general policies that were flexible to changes needed = If something did not work, it could be abandoned as an experiment, rather than considered a policy failure
Ideological alteration of the Party
Policy reform to admit new members of the Party
Party officials (e.g Yao Ziyang) attempted to sympathise with student protestors, but were removed for resisting Deng's more neo-authoritarian beliefs (i.e Quelling the masses with crowd control)
Deng: ‘Crossing the river by feeling the stones’ - this allowed for him to gain more trust in his policies if they proved to be successful, leading to a more cohesive government [politically crucial as Deng did not have Mao's cult and Foreign scare to establish his control and maintain a collective government]
In a bid to improve the Chinese economy, senior staff from the business community were admitted to the Party - Compared to previous membership being limited to workers, peasants, & military
For instance, the state-owned land system has meant that local governments can rapidly improve a city’s infrastructure by way of land finance and SOEs can carry out national strategic goals.
Additionally, Mao enforced more of his policy without general consensus in an attempt to achieve two irreconcilable goals of development and a socialist/communist economy.
Students were inspired by period of political relaxation (suggested by the presence of Democracy Walls, Salons and Deng's political relaxation in1986
China’s economic growth since 1978 has been nothing short of a miracle, lifting most people out of poverty and the country to the rank of higher-middle income. Its citizens have witnessed a quantum leap in their standard of living, and the nation’s wealth now rivals the greatest countries in the world.
As it remained relatively impartial towards different sections of society, the party- led government was able to adopt economic policies that benefited the entire society without restraint.
'Protecting the interests of workers and peasants' to 'overwhelming majority of the people'
Change in the ideology with the change in times. From the previously peasant-focused ideology spearheaded by Mao, the changing times with a larger number of urban workers during the mass industrialisation of China. This led Jiang to shift focus from the previous ideology to be more representative
Decentralisation motivates local governments and officials to take the initiative to develop the local economy, while a meritocratic promotion system overcomes the negative effects of decentralisation, such as regionalism and corruption.
Motivations
The Cultural Revolution was very unpopular, and the party and the government had to distance themselves from the old regime and make changes to win the support of the people.
After years of experience in economic planning, government officials understood the shortcomings of the planned system and the need for change.
Successful economic development in other parts of Asia—including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea, known as the ‘Four Tigers’—demonstrated to Chinese government officials and the Chinese people that a market economy works better than a planned one. This lesson was reinforced by the different rates of economic development in North and South Korea, and among countries in Eastern and Western Europe.
The Chinese people were ready for, and ready to support, economic reform.
Narayanan: The energy of township and village enterprises accounted for much of the growth in the 1980’s and early 1990’
1978: Collectively-owned - 94.8/423.7 [billion of yuan]
WHILE in 1996: Collectively-owned - 3923.2/9959.5 [billion of yuan]
For example, there was growing discontent with the public three-tier healthcare system, compared to the healthcare services provided by the private sectors. Here, it can be inferred that the rich and the poor had different degrees of quality healthcare access, which would be a sign of disparity based on income (ongoing phenomenon)
This was a long-term consequence that occurred with further development of Deng's policies by Huo and Jiang. However, it was mostly Deng who set the foundation of his policy.
These students were youth who had not seen the time of Mao [or fully experience its setback], and therefore, saw slow but consistent liberalization as the policy trend of the CCP. This could have contributed to their misunderstanding of the extent the Party was willing to liberalize their policies
[especially considering that the students that economic reforms would translate into political reforms (perhaps a view supported by the Open-door policy)].
Re-established CCP's authority, but had devastating effects on Deng's legacy.
Sent police overseas to learn crowd control etc. to make Party able to ‘discipline the working population’ and ‘tame the masses’
democratic reform would have (1) led to a weakening of the Party's control over China (2) Loss of the communist ideology (3) potential rise of the capitalist system, which would devastate the majority of Chinese living in poverty.
Jiang's political plans
Planned Political Transition
Adoption of 10th 5 Year Plan - Jiang, Zhu Rongji and Li Peng would retire
add key dates and statistics
How had China's politics and economy evolved?
Politics
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Impact of political and economic reforms and decisions?
How had China's politics and economy evolved?
Impact of political and economic reforms and decisions?
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Contrast to Huo Guofeng's "Three Whatevers" - Representative of Mao's ideology as a legacy
Despite China being an authoritarian regime, Jiang attempts to rule by consensus - Gain support of general population without having to give away power from the state
From Mao to Deng, it had shifted towards a more authoritarian power control, with less involvement of the people in the political decisions of the country [especially social policies].
From Deng to Huo - There was a slight relaxation of this control, albeit it was still an authoritarian control. There were slow introductions of election at a local level [village representatives]. Of course, this was a reaction towards the increasing number of protest and the controversy regarding the Tiananmen Square Incident.
There was also a slow disassociation wth the original Marxist views that originally defined the party in 1949. From Mao, whose social group and influence was based heavily on ideology, Deng used the Cultural Revolution to pull China towards a more tolerant stance for economic policies. Eventually, under Jiang and Huo, the party no longer justified their aims using Marxist ideologies, but rather ideologes pertaining to Nationalism.
This is an interesting take from how Deng initially defined China's new path [in 1976] to be "socialist with Chinese characteristics". Apparently, this meant being loyal to the Chinese context, rather than the original belief system.