The Economy Of Communist China

Economic development in mainland China during the first two decades of Communist control provides a typical example for the difficult task to transform a vast underdeveloped agrarian economy into a modern industrial one. In the first half of this period, a series of massive transformations of social and economic institutions was accompanied by a drafted industrialization program; the result was an impressive speed-up in economic growth. The second decade witnessed an economic crisis (1960-62) and a political upheaval (1966-68). These disruptions marred the economic performance over the period as a whole. Consequently, the long-term growth rate appears to have been only moderate.The Economy of Communist China reviews selected aspects of the economy. After examining the development strategy, it analyzes the quantitative trends and the structural changes. The book goes on to analyze the key factors contributing to the earlier growth and the elements responsible for the later disruption and finally assesses the impact of the Cultural Revolution on the Chinese economy and the prospects of the current Third Five-Year Plan.The text includes a bibliography of selected materials on Chinese economic development.

Almost a half century has passed since the inception of the People's Republic cf China. In that time a charismatic leader has ruled and died, leaving a wake of .Destruction in his quest to transform China. In that time, too, the PRC's most powerful ally and mentor, the Soviet Union, has dismantled and announced that jcmmunism had failed. Today, China fluctuates between tradition and modernity, ideology and pragmatism, between an antiquated collectivist ethic and a new spirit rf individualism. It is a country precariously suspended between past and future. Maria Hsia Chang's The Labors of Sisyphus is a long overdue reassessment of rie meaning and purpose of the Chinese communist revolution. In it, she discusses ihe thought of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, reform and its dilemmas, regionalism in greater China and autonomous areas, and nationalism. She also eyjnines China's immediate present and uncertain future. If it manages to transform economic growth into development, China--filled with natural resources and a large, capable labor force--has the potential to become a world superpower. It could also collapse under the weight of its own problems: regionalism, a flawed state sector, corruption, and a pronounced decline in state capacity. If China succeeds, an imposing new economic power will enter the global stage, one that is often arbitrary and prone to despotism and xenophobia, unless it is tempered by political reform. Prior accounts of communist China have failed to capture China's evolving present In all its complexity and variety, misrepresenting Maoist China In the process. Information shortfall was partly to blame: as recently as August 1994, the Chinese government itself decried falsification of statistics by government officials and cadres. Sinologists in the 1960s and 1970s had to approach analysis of contemporary China with clear recognition of the limitations involved and the questionable validity of the factual sources available. Maria Hsia Chang lends structure, meaning, and purpose to the very complex recent political and historical past of communist China. With greater access to more accurate information, Chang is able to analyze objectively, without political motive or intention, providing readers with a fresh look at the People's Republic. Her pathbreaking work will be of interest to scholars of international economics and politics, sinologists, and historians.

Economic development in mainland China during the first two decades of Communist control provides a typical example for the difficult task to transform a vast underdeveloped agrarian economy into a modern industrial one. In the first half of this period, a series of massive transformations of social and economic institutions was accompanied by a drafted industrialization program; the result was an impressive speed-up in economic growth. The second decade witnessed an economic crisis (1960-62) and a political upheaval (1966-68). These disruptions marred the economic performance over the period as a whole. Consequently, the long-term growth rate appears to have been only moderate. The Economy of Communist China reviews selected aspects of the economy. After examining the development strategy, it analyzes the quantitative trends and the structural changes. The book goes on to analyze the key factors contributing to the earlier growth and the elements responsible for the later disruption and finally assesses the impact of the Cultural Revolution on the Chinese economy and the prospects of the current Third Five-Year Plan. The text includes a bibliography of selected materials on Chinese economic development.

Study of communist political leadership and the economic development of China from 1949 to 1969 - covers the evolution of the communist political party, reproduces the text of the party constitution of 1969, and examines political problems, social reforms, revolutionary and counter-revolutionary social movements, national planning, economic policy, the role of USSR in providing economic aid, industrial development, rural development, education, etc. References and statistical tables.

Professor Eckstein's book is a study of China's efforts to achieve rapid modernization of its economy within a socialist framework. Eckstein begins with an examination of economic development in pre-Communist China, specifically focusing on the resources and liabilities inherited by the new regime in 1949 and their effects on development policies. He then analyses the economic objectives of the Communist leadership - narrowing income disparities, maintaining full employment without inflation, and achieving rapid industrialization - and argues that the implementation of these goals required a potent ideology capable of providing a strong faith and motivational force for the mass mobilization of resources. In discussing the methods used by the government to achieve its aims, Eckstein makes a thorough evaluation of China's general framework for economic planning, particularly in regard to the distribution and pricing of farm products and the allocation of resources in the industrial sector. The author also evaluates the radical institutional changes in property relations and in economic organization in the People's Republic of China.

Booklet on selected aspects of the economy and economic development of China from 1949 to 1969 - covers changes in economic planning strategy, quantitative trends of national income and gross national product, changes in economic structure, factors contributing to economic growth, etc. Bibliography pp. 55 to 79 and statistical tables.