Chinese Economic Reform under Communist Rule
Two years after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, it became apparent to many of
China's leaders that economic reform was necessary. During his tenure as China's
premier, Mao had encouraged social movements such as the Great Leap Forward and
the Cultural Revolution which had had as their bases ideologies such as serving
the people and maintaining the class struggle. By 1978 "Chinese leaders were
searching for a solution to serious economic problems produced by Hua Guofeng,
the man who had succeeded Mao Zedong as CCP leader after Mao's death" (Shirk 35).
Hua had demonstrated a desire to continue the ideologically based movements of
Mao. Unfortunately, these movements had left China in a state where "agriculture
was stagnant, industrial production was low, and the people's living standards
had not increased in twenty years" (Nathan 200). This last area was particularly
troubling. While "the gross output value of industry and agriculture increased
by 810 percent and national income grew by 420 percent [between1952 and 1980] ...
average individual income increased by only 100 percent" (Ma Hong quoted in
Shirk 28). However, attempts at economic reform in China were introduced not
only due to some kind of generosity on the part of the Chinese Communist Party
to increase the populace's living standards. It had become clear to members of
the CCP that economic reform would fulfill a political purpose as well since the
party felt, properly it would seem, that it had suffered a loss of support. As
Susan L. Shirk describes the situation in The Political Logic of Economic Reform
in China, restoring the CCP's prestige required improving economic performa ...