Chinese Economic Reform :: essays papers

Chinese Economic Reform Two years after the death of monoamine oxidase Zedong in 1976, it became apparent to many of Chinas leaders that economic reform was necessary. During his tenure as Chinas premier, Mao had encouraged social movements such as the Great rise Forward and the Cultural Revolution, which had had as their base ideologies such as serving the people and maintaining the class struggle. By 1978 Chinese leaders were searching for a antecedent to serious economic problems produced by Hua Guofeng, the man who had succeeded Mao Zedong as Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader after Maos death (Shirk 35). Hua had demo 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 peoples living standards had non increased in twenty years (Nathan, Andrew J. Chinas Crisis pg. 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 between 1952 and 1980 average individual income increased by only 100 percent (Ma Hong quoted in Shirk, Susan L. The Political logical system of Economic Reform in China. Berkeley pg. 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 populaces 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 CCPs prestige required improving economic performance and raising living standards. The traumatic experience of the Cultural Revolution had eroded popular trust in the moral and political celibacy of the CCP. The pa rtys leaders decided to shift the base of party legitimacy from virtue to competence, and to do that they had to demonstrate that they could deliver the goods. This movement from virtue to competence seemed to mark a serious departure from orthodox Chinese political theory. Confucius himself had posited in the fifth century BCE that those individuals who best demonstrated what he referred to as moral force should lead the nation.