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113-483: Mainland China Hong Kong (pro-Beijing) Macau (pro-Beijing) Republic of China (Taiwan, pro-Beijing) Mainland China Hong Kong (pro-Beijing) Macau (pro-Beijing) Republic of China (Taiwan, pro-Beijing) Hong Kong (pro-Beijing) Mainland China Hong Kong (pro-Beijing) The Chinese economic reform or Chinese economic miracle , also known domestically as reform and opening-up ( Chinese : 改革开放 ; pinyin : Gǎigé kāifàng ), refers to

226-402: A not-for-profit corporation , as it may not be required to generate a profit; as a commercial enterprise in competitive sectors; or as a natural monopoly . Governments may also use the profitable entities they own to support the general budget. The creation of a state-owned enterprise from other forms of public property is called corporatization . In Soviet-type economies , state property was

339-728: A "decisive" role in allocating resources. Xi launched the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone in August 2013, seen as part of the reforms. He has additionally voiced support for SOEs, and under him, at least 288 firms have revised their corporate charters by 2017 to allow the CCP greater influence in corporate management, and to reflect the party line. This trend also includes Hong Kong listed firms, who have traditionally downplayed their party links, but are now "redrafting bylaws to formally establish party committees that previously existed only at

452-399: A broadly commercial manner and may or may not have monopolies in their areas of activity. The transformation of public entities and government agencies into government-owned corporations is sometimes a precursor to privatization . State capitalist economies are capitalist market economies that have high degrees of government-owned businesses. Public ownership of the means of production

565-443: A component—either a character or a sub-component called a radical —usually involves either a reduction in its total number of strokes , or an apparent streamlining of which strokes are chosen in what places—for example, the ⼓   ' WRAP ' radical used in the traditional character 沒 is simplified to ⼏   ' TABLE ' to form the simplified character 没 . By systematically simplifying radicals, large swaths of

678-434: A conversion table. While exercising such derivation, the following rules should be observed: Sample Derivations : The Series One List of Variant Characters reduces the number of total standard characters. First, amongst each set of variant characters sharing identical pronunciation and meaning, one character (usually the simplest in form) is elevated to the standard character set, and the rest are made obsolete. Then amongst

791-537: A cornerstone of the " socialism with Chinese characteristics " and " Deng Xiaoping Theory ". Globally, China's reforms directly influenced the reform policies in Vietnam (" Đổi Mới ") and Laos , whereas North Korea saw China's reforms as a source of political instability and social unrest, accusing China of following a revisionist path . Meanwhile, the New Enlightenment in the 1980s did not proceed, as

904-453: A family is allocated an apartment that is state owned, it will have been granted a tenancy of the apartment, which may be lifelong or inheritable, but the management and control rights are held by various government departments . There is a distinction to be made between state ownership and public property. The former may refer to assets operated by a specific state institution or branch of government, used exclusively by that branch, such as

1017-566: A few large monopolies, were liquidated and their assets sold to private investors. Between 2001 and 2004, the number of state-owned enterprises decreased by 48 percent. During the same period, Jiang and Zhu also reduced tariffs , trade barriers , and regulations ; reformed the banking system; dismantled much of the Mao-era social welfare system; forced the Chinese army (PLA) to divest itself of military-run businesses; reduced inflation; and joined

1130-407: A few revised forms, and was implemented for official use by China's State Council on 5 June 2013. In Chinese, simplified characters are referred to by their official name 简化字 ; jiǎnhuàzì , or colloquially as 简体字 ; jiǎntǐzì . The latter term refers broadly to all character variants featuring simplifications of character form or structure, a practice which has always been present as

1243-403: A focus in 1988, and this time led to spiraling inflation (the first time it had done so since the 1940s) as well as a backlash that included local protests, bank runs, and panic buying. The Chinese leadership halted these price liberalization plans in fall 1988 and instead focused on austerity, price reform, and retrenchment. Corruption and increased inflation increased discontent, contributing to

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1356-467: A more conservative approach towards reforms, and began to reverse some of Deng Xiaoping's reforms in 2005. Observers note that the government adopted more egalitarian and populist policies. It increased subsidies and control over the health care sector, increased funding for education, halted privatization, and adopted a loose monetary policy, which led to the formation of a U.S.-style property bubble in which property prices tripled. The privileged state sector

1469-610: A newly coined phono-semantic compound : Removing radicals Only retaining single radicals Replacing with ancient forms or variants : Adopting ancient vulgar variants : Readopting abandoned phonetic-loan characters : Copying and modifying another traditional character : Based on 132 characters and 14 components listed in Chart 2 of the Complete List , the 1,753 derived characters found in Chart 3 can be created by systematically simplifying components using Chart 2 as

1582-518: A part of the Chinese writing system. The official name tends to refer to the specific, systematic set published by the Chinese government, which includes not only simplifications of individual characters, but also a substantial reduction in the total number of characters through the merger of formerly distinct forms. According to Chinese palaeographer Qiu Xigui , the broadest trend in the evolution of Chinese characters over their history has been simplification, both in graphical shape ( 字形 ; zìxíng ),

1695-453: A percentage of GDP. China's government slowly expanded recognition of the private economy, first as a "complement" to the state sector (1988) and then as an "important component" (1999) of the socialist market economy . In the 1990s, Deng allowed many radical reforms to be carried out. Deng also elevated reformer Zhu Rongji from Party secretary of Shanghai to Vice Premier in 1991, and later into Politburo Standing Committee in 1992. In 1993,

1808-493: A planned economy was not the only way to develop socialism and that prior policies restricting the commodity economy had hindered socialist development. After the Decision , reform focused on building a socialist planned commodity economy with Chinese characteristics. Controls on private businesses and government intervention continued to decrease, notably in the agrifood sector which saw relaxation of price controls in 1985 and

1921-477: A precedent for privatizing other parts of the economy. Reforms were also implemented in urban industry to increase productivity. A dual-price system was introduced, in which (State-owned enterprise reform 1979) state-owned industries were allowed to sell any production above the plan quota, and commodities were sold at both plan and market prices, allowing citizens to avoid the shortages of the Maoist era. Moreover,

2034-608: A research laboratory. The latter refers to assets and resources owned by the population of a state which are mostly available to the entire public for use, such as a public park (see public space ). In neoclassical economic theory , the desirability of state ownership has been studied using contract theory . According to the property rights approach based on incomplete contracting (developed by Oliver Hart and his co-authors), ownership matters because it determines what happens in contingencies that were not considered in prevailing contracts. The work by Hart, Shleifer and Vishny (1997)

2147-608: A result Deng replaced Hua as the new paramount leader of China at the 3rd plenary session of the 11th Central Committee of the CCP in December 1978, when the "Reform and Opening" of China officially began. At the same time, the truth criterion discussion also triggered the New Enlightenment movement in mainland China which lasted over a decade, promoting democracy , humanism and universal values such as human rights and freedom . The "thought liberation" encouraged by

2260-478: A variety of economic reforms termed " socialism with Chinese characteristics " and " socialist market economy " in the People's Republic of China (PRC) that began in the late 20th century, after Mao Zedong 's death in 1976. Guided by Deng Xiaoping , who is often credited as the "General Architect", the reforms were launched by reformists within the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on December 18, 1978, during

2373-431: Is a subset of social ownership , which is the defining characteristic of a socialist economy. However, state ownership and nationalization by themselves are not socialist, as they can exist under a wide variety of different political and economic systems for a variety of different reasons. State ownership by itself does not imply social ownership where income rights belong to society as a whole. As such, state ownership

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2486-414: Is a tool to consolidate the means of production as a precursor to the establishment of economic planning for the allocation of resources between organizations, as required by government or by the state. State ownership is advocated as a form of social ownership for practical concerns, with the state being seen as the obvious candidate for owning and operating the means of production. Proponents assume that

2599-440: Is actually more complex than eliminated ones. An example is the character 搾 which is eliminated in favor of the variant form 榨 . The 扌   'HAND' with three strokes on the left of the eliminated 搾 is now seen as more complex, appearing as the ⽊   'TREE' radical 木 , with four strokes, in the chosen variant 榨 . Not all characters standardised in the simplified set consist of fewer strokes. For instance,

2712-454: Is derived. Merging homophonous characters: Adapting cursive shapes ( 草書楷化 ): Replacing a component with a simple arbitrary symbol (such as 又 and 乂 ): Omitting entire components : Omitting components, then applying further alterations : Structural changes that preserve the basic shape Replacing the phonetic component of phono-semantic compounds : Replacing an uncommon phonetic component : Replacing entirely with

2825-813: Is now discouraged. A State Language Commission official cited "oversimplification" as the reason for restoring some characters. The language authority declared an open comment period until 31 August 2009, for feedback from the public. In 2013, the List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters was published as a revision of the 1988 lists; it included a total of 8105 characters. It included 45 newly recognized standard characters that were previously considered variant forms, as well as official approval of 226 characters that had been simplified by analogy and had seen wide use but were not explicitly given in previous lists or documents. Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification , eventually arriving at

2938-594: Is only one possible expression of public ownership, which itself is one variation of the broader concept of social ownership. In the context of socialism, public ownership implies that the surplus product generated by publicly owned assets accrues to all of society in the form of a social dividend , as opposed to a distinct class of private capital owners. There is a wide variety of organizational forms for state-run industry, ranging from specialized technocratic management to direct workers' self-management . In traditional conceptions of non-market socialism, public ownership

3051-623: Is referred to as the " big seal script ". The traditional narrative, as also attested in the Shuowen Jiezi dictionary ( c.  100 AD ), is that the Qin small seal script that would later be imposed across China was originally derived from the Zhou big seal script with few modifications. However, the body of epigraphic evidence comparing the character forms used by scribes gives no indication of any real consolidation in character forms prior to

3164-411: Is the leading application of the property rights approach to the question whether state ownership or private ownership is desirable. In their model, the government and a private firm can invest to improve the quality of a public good and to reduce its production costs. It turns out that private ownership results in strong incentives to reduce costs, but it may also lead to poor quality. Hence, depending on

3277-475: Is the process of transferring private or state assets to a municipal government. A state-owned enterprise is a commercial enterprise owned by a government entity in a capitalist market or mixed economy . Reasons for state ownership of commercial enterprises are that the enterprise in question is a natural monopoly or because the government is promoting economic development and industrialization . State-owned enterprises may or may not be expected to operate in

3390-547: Is used instead of 叠 in regions using traditional characters. The Chinese government stated that it wished to keep Chinese orthography stable. The Chart of Generally Utilized Characters of Modern Chinese was published in 1988 and included 7000 simplified and unsimplified characters. Of these, half were also included in the revised List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese , which specified 2500 common characters and 1000 less common characters. In 2009,

3503-536: The Boluan Fanzheng period. A parallel set of political reforms were launched by Deng and his allies in the 1980s, but eventually ended in 1989 due to the crackdown on Tiananmen Square protests , halting further political liberalization. The reforms briefly went into stagnation after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre , but were revived after Deng Xiaoping's southern tour in 1992. The reforms led to significant economic growth for China within

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3616-670: The Chinese language , with the other being traditional characters . Their mass standardization during the 20th century was part of an initiative by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to promote literacy, and their use in ordinary circumstances on the mainland has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the 1950s. They are the official forms used in mainland China and Singapore , while traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan . Simplification of

3729-591: The National People's Congress adopted the landmark Corporation Law. It provides that in state owned enterprises , the state is no more than an investor and controller of stock and assets. Pursuant to the Corporation Law, private and foreign investment in such enterprises must be below 49%. The law also permitted state firms to declare bankruptcy in the event of business failure. In the beginning, Chen supported Deng, carried out and implemented many of

3842-600: The Shanghai Stock Exchange was reopened after being closed by Mao 40 years earlier, while the Shenzhen Stock Exchange was also founded in December 1990. In contrast to the approach of Deng, conservative elders led by Chen Yun called to strike a balance between too much laissez-faire market economy and retaining state control over key areas of the economy. Chen Yun helped preserve the economy by preventing policies that would have damaged

3955-648: The World Trade Organization . These moves invoked discontent among some groups, especially laid-off workers of state enterprises that had been privatized. The domestic private sector first exceeded 50% of GDP in 2005 and has further expanded since. Also in 1999, China was able to surpass Japan as the largest economy in Asia by purchasing power parity (PPP) values. However, some state monopolies still remained, such as in petroleum and banking. CCP general secretary Hu Jintao and premier Wen Jiabao took

4068-444: The de facto leader, Deng's policies faced opposition from party conservatives but were extremely successful in increasing the country's wealth. Major reforms (including rural decollectivization, SOE reform, and rural health care reform) almost always began first as decentralized local experiments subject to intervention from high level Communist Party officials before they were more widely adopted. In 1979, Deng Xiaoping emphasized

4181-455: The neoauthoritarianism also exist, and some scholars have also proposed the " China Model " of development. The success of China's economic policies and the manner of their implementation resulted in immense changes in Chinese society in the last 40 years, including greatly decreased poverty while both average incomes and income inequality have increased, leading to a backlash led by the more ideologically pure New Left . Scholars have debated

4294-433: The " Boluan Fanzheng " period, especially after Deng and his reformist allies rose to power with Deng replacing Hua Guofeng as the paramount leader in December 1978. By the time Deng took power, there was widespread support among the elite for economic reforms. From 1978 to 1992, Deng described reform and opening up as a "large scale experiment" requiring thorough "experimentation in practice" instead of textbook knowledge. As

4407-730: The " Peaceful Evolution " from the West . This was especially true after the Revolutions of 1989 in Europe and around the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. In early 1992, then retired paramount leader Deng Xiaoping embarked on his celebrated southern tour , during which he, with strong support from the Chinese military, ordered that "those who do not promote reform should be brought down from their leadership positions". Deng dissuaded people from debating over whether China

4520-488: The " Shenzhen speed " of development as well as the success of the special economics zones. Besides Deng Xiaoping himself, important high-ranking reformists who helped carry out the reforms include Hu Yaobang , then General Secretary of Chinese Communist Party , and Zhao Ziyang , then Premier of the People's Republic of China . Other leaders who favored Deng's reforms include Xi Zhongxun (the father of Xi Jinping ), Wan Li , Hu Qili and others. Another influential leader

4633-454: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : State ownership In market-based economies, state-owned assets are often managed and operated as joint-stock corporations with a government owning all or a controlling stake of the company's shares . This form is often referred to as a state-owned enterprise . A state-owned enterprise might variously operate as

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4746-459: The "external appearances of individual graphs", and in graphical form ( 字体 ; 字體 ; zìtǐ ), "overall changes in the distinguishing features of graphic[al] shape and calligraphic style, [...] in most cases refer[ring] to rather obvious and rather substantial changes". The initiatives following the founding of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to universalize the use of their small seal script across

4859-465: The 1975 reform agenda of Deng Xiaoping . Hua made national economic development a matter of the highest priority and emphasized the need to achieve "liberation of productive forces." He "combined Soviet-style big push industrialization with an opening up to the capitalist world" and under his leadership, China opened its first Special Economic Zone and launched major efforts to attract foreign direct investment. Economic reforms began in earnest during

4972-482: The 1986 General List of Simplified Chinese Characters , hereafter the General List . All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in the 1986 Complete List . Characters in both charts are structurally simplified based on similar set of principles. They are separated into two charts to clearly mark those in Chart 2 as 'usable as simplified character components', based on which Chart 3

5085-520: The 1986 mainland China revisions. Unlike in mainland China, Singapore parents have the option of registering their children's names in traditional characters. Malaysia also promulgated a set of simplified characters in 1981, though completely identical to the mainland Chinese set. They are used in Chinese-language schools. All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Charts 1 and 2 of

5198-482: The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre and a conservative backlash after that event which ousted several key reformers and threatened to reverse many of Deng's reforms. The events of 1988 and 1989 led to the imprisonment or exile of many reformist officials. However, Deng stood by his reforms and in 1992, he affirmed the need to continue reforms in his southern tour . Thanks to his encouragement, in November 1990

5311-569: The CCP held in 1987. However, the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 ended both the political reforms and the New Enlightenment movement in China, sending the overall "Reform and Opening" program into stagnation. Between 1989 and 1991, there were fears and concerns within the CCP that further reforms may turn China into a capitalist country, and the CCP new leadership under general secretary Jiang Zemin shifted its focus to preventing

5424-470: The Chinese government published a major revision to the list which included a total of 8300 characters. No new simplifications were introduced. In addition, slight modifications to the orthography of 44 characters to fit traditional calligraphic rules were initially proposed, but were not implemented due to negative public response. Also, the practice of unrestricted simplification of rare and archaic characters by analogy using simplified radicals or components

5537-483: The Chinese government, though bounded by the " Four Cardinal Principles " proposed by Deng in 1979, subsequently became the bedrock for the reforms. Planned economy as well as the Maoist policies imposed during the Cultural Revolution were gradually dismantled, and the theory of a " primary stage of socialism " was proposed as the theoretical basis of the political report to the 13th National Congress of

5650-499: The Hart-Shleifer-Vishny model assumes that the private party derives no utility from provision of the public good. Besley and Ghatak (2001) have shown that if the private party (a non-governmental organization) cares about the public good, then the party with the larger valuation of the public good should always be the owner, regardless of the parties' investment technologies. More recently, some authors have shown that

5763-506: The United States, facilitated China's exports to such countries, and thereby contributed to China's subsequent rapid economic growth. Under the leadership of Yuan Geng , the "Shekou model" of development was gradually formed, embodied in its famous slogan Time is Money, Efficiency is Life , which then widely spread to other parts of China. In January 1984, Deng Xiaoping made his first inspection tour to Shenzhen and Zhuhai, praising

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5876-667: The academia and intellectual circle in mainland China became divided in the 1990s, forming two major schools of thought : the Liberalism and the New Left . The Liberalism school argued that China should continue its reform and opening, further developing market economy while pushing forward political reforms for human rights, freedom, democracy, rule of law and constitutionalism ; high-ranking Chinese officials including Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and Premier Wen Jiabao have expressed various degree of support over this view. On

5989-422: The adoption of Industrial Responsibility System 1980s further promote the development of state-owned enterprise by allowing individuals or groups to manage the enterprise by contract. Private businesses were allowed to operate for the first time since the CCP takeover, and they gradually began to make up a greater percentage of industrial output. Price flexibility was also increased, expanding the service sector. At

6102-410: The ambiguous political status of Taiwan . Some analysts have also added that the reform era has been scaled down significantly during the leadership of current CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping when the reformists lost power, citing that Xi has reasserted state control over different aspects of Chinese society, including the economy. After three decades of reform, China's economy experienced one of

6215-399: The approach to price liberalization and whether China should adopt an approach consistent with shock therapy —sudden price liberalization – or a more gradual approach. But in 1986, the latter approach won out. "Confronted with the diverse, authoritative warnings about the unforeseeable risks of imposing the shock of price reform and the uncertainty about its benefits," Premier Zhao Ziyang and

6328-474: The available investment technologies, there are situations in which state ownership is better. The Hart-Shleifer-Vishny theory has been extended in many directions. For instance, some authors have also considered mixed forms of private ownership and state ownership. In the Hart-Shleifer-Vishny model it is assumed that all parties have the same information, while Schmitz (2023) has studied an extension of their analysis allowing for asymmetric information . Moreover,

6441-666: The bond market, and increased the national currency renminbi 's global role, helping it to join IMF's basket of special drawing right . His administration has also pursued a debt-deleveraging campaign, seeking to slow and cut the unsustainable amount of debt China has accrued during its economic growth. Xi's administration has also reoriented the economy to increase self-reliance, and accordingly launched two campaigns; Made in China 2025 and China Standards 2035, which have sought to scale up and displace US dominance in various high-tech sectors, though publicly China de-emphasized these plans due to

6554-566: The bureaucratic regulations and interventions that hampered economic growth. These regions became engines of growth for the national economy. On January 31, 1979, the Shekou Industrial Zone of Shenzhen was founded, becoming the first experimental area in China to "open up". In July 1979, China adopted its first Law on Joint Venture Using Chinese and Foreign Investment. This law was effective in helping to attract and absorb foreign technology and capital from advanced countries like

6667-593: The cage the bird [the economy] is free to fly as he wishes." Chen and some other conservative leaders including Li Xiannian never visited Shenzhen, the leading special economic zone championed by Deng. In October 1984, the Party adopted its Decision on the Reform of the Economic System , marking a major shift in the thinking of Chinese policymakers with regard to market mechanisms. The Decision acknowledged that

6780-428: The character set are altered. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms that embody graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. In addition, variant characters with identical pronunciation and meaning were reduced to a single standardized character, usually the simplest among all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification and are thus identical between

6893-407: The chosen variants, those that appear in the "Complete List of Simplified Characters" are also simplified in character structure accordingly. Some examples follow: Sample reduction of equivalent variants : Ancient variants with simple structure are preferred : Simpler vulgar forms are also chosen : The chosen variant was already simplified in Chart 1 : In some instances, the chosen variant

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7006-473: The country's writing system as a serious impediment to its modernization. In 1916, a multi-part English-language article entitled "The Problem of the Chinese Language" co-authored by the Chinese linguist Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) and poet Hu Shih (1891–1962) has been identified as a turning point in the history of the Chinese script—as it was one of the first clear calls for China to move away from

7119-408: The creation of Clause IV of the "Labour Party Manifesto" in 1918. "Clause IV" was written by Fabian Society member Sidney Webb . When ownership of a resource is vested in the state, or any branch of the state such as a local authority , individual use "rights" are based on the state's management policies, though these rights are not property rights as they are not transmissible. For example, if

7232-415: The de- collectivization of agriculture , the opening up of the country to foreign investment , and permission for entrepreneurs to start businesses. However, a large percentage of industries remained state-owned. The second stage of reform, in the late 1980s and 1990s, involved the privatization and contracting out of much state-owned industry. The 1985 lifting of price controls was a major reform, and

7345-409: The dominant form of industry as property. The state held a monopoly on land and natural resources, and enterprises operated under the legal framework of a nominally planned economy , and thus according to different criteria than enterprises in market and mixed economies. Nationalization is a process of transferring private or municipal assets to a central government or state entity. Municipalization

7458-476: The early 20th century. In 1909, the educator and linguist Lufei Kui formally proposed the use of simplified characters in education for the first time. Over the following years—marked by the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that toppled the Qing dynasty , followed by growing social and political discontent that further erupted into the 1919 May Fourth Movement —many anti-imperialist intellectuals throughout China began to see

7571-576: The economy entered into a period of stagnation, and after the death of Mao Zedong , the CCP leadership decided to abandon Maoism and turn to market-oriented reforms to salvage the stagnant economy. In September 1976, Mao Zedong died, and in October, Hua Guofeng together with Ye Jianying and Wang Dongxing arrested the Gang of Four , putting an end to the Cultural Revolution . Hua's break with Cultural Revolution era economic policies were consistent with

7684-510: The economy increasing by 9.5% a year. Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao 's administration took a more conservative approach towards reforms, regulated and controlled the economy more heavily after 2005, reversing some reforms. Before Deng Xiaoping's reforms, China's economy suffered due to centrally planned policies, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution , resulting in stagnation, inefficiency, and poverty. Prior to

7797-406: The economy. Xi has circulated a policy called dual circulation , meaning reorienting the economy towards domestic consumption while remaining open to foreign trade and investment. Since 2021, his administration has formulated the three red lines policy that aimed to deleverage the heavily indebted property sector. In September 2020, the CCP announced that it would strengthen United Front work in

7910-465: The establishment of the household responsibility system , and there was small-scale privatization of state enterprises which had become unviable. A notable development was the decentralization of state control, leaving local provincial leaders to experiment with ways to increase economic growth and privatize the state sector. Township and village enterprises , firms nominally owned by local governments but effectively private, began to gain market share at

8023-644: The expense of the state sector. With the help of Yuan Geng , the first joint-stock commercial bank in China, the China Merchants Bank , and the first joint-stock insurance company in China, the Ping An Insurance , were both established in Shekou . In May 1984, fourteen coastal cities in China including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin were named " Open Coastal Cities (沿海开放城市)". A significant economic debate during this period concerned

8136-493: The famines which killed tens of millions during the Great Leap Forward . Deng responded by decollectivizing agriculture and emphasizing the household-responsibility system , which divided the land of the People's communes into private plots. Under the new policy, peasants were able to exercise formal control of their land as long as they sold a contracted portion of their crops to the government. This move increased agricultural production by 25 percent between 1975 and 1985, setting

8249-634: The first official list of simplified forms was published, consisting of 324 characters collated by Peking University professor Qian Xuantong . However, fierce opposition within the KMT resulted in the list being rescinded in 1936. Work throughout the 1950s resulted in the 1956 promulgation of the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme , a draft of 515 simplified characters and 54 simplified components, whose simplifications would be present in most compound characters. Over

8362-463: The first round—but was massively unpopular and never saw consistent use. The second round of simplifications was ultimately retracted officially in 1986, well after they had largely ceased to be used due to their unpopularity and the confusion they caused. In August 2009, China began collecting public comments for a revised list of simplified characters; the resulting List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters lists 8,105 characters, including

8475-475: The following decade, the Script Reform Committee deliberated on characters in the 1956 scheme, collecting public input regarding the recognizability of variants, and often approving forms in small batches. Parallel to simplification, there were also initiatives aimed at eliminating the use of characters entirely and replacing them with pinyin as an official Chinese alphabet, but this possibility

8588-406: The founding of the Qin. The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of clerical script through the process of libian . Eastward spread of Western learning Though most closely associated with the People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during

8701-482: The goal of " Four Modernizations " and further proposed the idea of " xiaokang ", or " moderately prosperous society ". The achievements of Lee Kuan Yew to create an economic success in Singapore had a profound effect on the CCP leadership in China. Leaders in China made a major effort, especially under Deng Xiaoping, to emulate his policies of economic growth, entrepreneurship, and subtle suppression of dissent. Over

8814-579: The group level." In other dimensions, according to Ray Dalio , the Xi era has also been marked by economic opening, greater market-oriented decision-making and discontinuation of support for poorly managed state-owned enterprises. Xi has increased the power of CCP bodies in economic decision-making, decreasing the influence of the State Council and the premier. His administration made it easier for banks to issue mortgages , increased foreign participation in

8927-466: The increased usage of 朙 was followed by proliferation of a third variant: 眀 , with 目 'eye' on the left—likely derived as a contraction of 朙 . Ultimately, 明 became the character's standard form. The Book of Han (111 AD) describes an earlier attempt made by King Xuan of Zhou ( d.  782 BC ) to unify character forms across the states of ancient China , with his chief chronicler having "[written] fifteen chapters describing" what

9040-488: The influential reforms that made a generation of Chinese richer. But later, Chen realized that the state still needed an active iron hand involvement in the market to prevent the private sector from becoming untamable. Chen's criticism of Deng's later economic reforms was widely influential within the CCP and was reflected in the policies of China's leaders after Deng. Chen's theories supported the efforts of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao to use state power to provide boundaries for

9153-411: The interests of special interest groups in the government bureaucracy. Although the economy grew quickly during this period, economic troubles in the inefficient state sector increased. Heavy losses had to be made up by state revenues and acted as a drain upon the economy. Inflation became problematic in 1985, 1988 and 1992. Privatizations began to accelerate after 1992, and the private sector grew as

9266-621: The justification for large-scale crackdowns and regulations towards the perceived "excesses" of several sectors, most prominently tech and tutoring industries. During the Boluan Fanzheng period, Deng Xiaoping and Hu Yaobang launched the large-scale " 1978 Truth Criterion Discussion " and endorsed the ideology of "practice is the sole criterion for testing truth". The truth criterion discussion successfully helped Deng's reformist ideology win against Hua Guofeng 's governing philosophy " Two Whatevers " ("Whatever Chairman Mao said, we will say and whatever Chairman Mao did, we will do"), and as

9379-450: The leadership ultimately rejected shock price reform. Zhao had accepted the argument that the basic concern in economic reform was energizing enterprises. By late summer, what started under the rubric of "coordinated comprehensive package reform" had been diluted to an adjustment in the price of steel (although its price was both important had carried symbolic weight) as well as partial tax and financial reform. Radical price reform again became

9492-465: The left, with the 月 'Moon' component on the right. Li Si ( d.  208 BC ), the Chancellor of Qin, attempted to universalize the Qin small seal script across China following the wars that had politically unified the country for the first time. Li prescribed the 朙 form of the word for 'bright', but some scribes ignored this and continued to write the character as 明 . However,

9605-449: The lifting of protectionist policies and regulations soon followed, although state monopolies in the commanding heights of the economy such as banking and petroleum remained. In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Not long after, the private sector grew remarkably, accounting for as much as 70 percent of China's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2005. From 1978 until 2013, unprecedented growth occurred, with

9718-402: The most prominent Chinese authors of the 20th century, stated that "if Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die" ( 漢字不滅，中國必亡 ). During the 1930s and 1940s, discussions regarding simplification took place within the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party. Many members of the Chinese intelligentsia maintained that simplification would increase literacy rates throughout the country. In 1935,

9831-521: The operation of the market, and to mediate the damage that capitalism can do to those who find it difficult to benefit from the free market. Chen's notion of the CPC as a "ruling party" was central to the redefinition of the role of the Party in Jiang Zemin's Three Represents . In 2005, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of Chen's birth, the Party press published, over the course of several weeks,

9944-567: The other hand, the New Left argued that capitalism had become prevalent in mainland China with worsening corruption and widening economic inequality , which were common issues in the development of western capitalism, and therefore the New Left criticizes market mechanism and calls for social justice as well as equality, defending some of Mao Zedong 's policies during the Cultural Revolution. Other schools of thought such as

10057-466: The outbreak of a trade war with the U.S in 2018. This is alongside more aggressive pursuit of trade policies, in line with an outlook that sees China move towards taking a more active role in writing the rules of trade. Some analysts have also added that the reform era has been scaled down significantly during the leadership of Xi when the reformists lost power, citing that Xi has reasserted state control over different aspects of Chinese society, including

10170-580: The peg to the U.S. dollar was broken, leading the yuan to rise by 31% against the dollar from 2005 to 2012. China's economic growth has averaged around 10% under Hu, while the economy surpassed the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan. Under CCP general secretary Xi Jinping and his administration , the CCP has sought numerous reforms, with the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee announcing that "market forces" would begin to play

10283-430: The private sector by establishing more party committees in the regional federations of industry and commerce (FIC), and by arranging a special liaison between FIC and the CCP. Since 2021, Xi has promoted the term common prosperity , a term which he defined as an "essential requirement of socialism", described as affluence for all and said entailed reasonable adjustments to excess incomes. Common prosperity has been used as

10396-444: The proceedings of a symposium discussing Chen's contributions to CCP history, theory and practice. Although Deng died in 1997, reforms continued under his handpicked successors, Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji , who were ardent reformers who also abided by Chen Yun advice to keep the reforms steady and keep the state still in charge of key areas. In 1997 and 1998, large-scale privatization occurred, in which all state enterprises, except

10509-486: The process of capital accumulation and structure of wage labor. Engels argued that state ownership of commercial industry would represent the final stage of capitalism, consisting of ownership and management of large-scale production and manufacture by the state. Within the United Kingdom, public ownership is mostly associated with the Labour Party (a centre-left democratic socialist party), specifically due to

10622-430: The public and quickly fell out of official use. It was ultimately formally rescinded in 1986. The second-round simplifications were unpopular in large part because most of the forms were completely new, in contrast to the familiar variants comprising the majority of the first round. With the rescission of the second round, work toward further character simplification largely came to an end. In 1986, authorities retracted

10735-465: The reason for the success of the Chinese "dual-track" economy , and have compared it to attempts to reform socialism in the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union; as well as to the growth of other developing economies. Additionally, these series of reforms have led to China's status as a great power and a shift of international geopolitical interests towards China, especially in matters relating to

10848-465: The recently conquered parts of the empire is generally seen as being the first real attempt at script reform in Chinese history. Before the 20th century, variation in character shape on the part of scribes, which would continue with the later invention of woodblock printing , was ubiquitous. For example, prior to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) the character meaning 'bright' was written as either 明 or 朙 —with either 日 'Sun' or 囧 'window' on

10961-473: The reforms promoted by Deng, in contrast to the top-down approach of the Perestroika in the Soviet Union, is considered an important factor contributing to the success of China's economic transition. The first reforms began in agriculture . By the late 1970s, food supplies and production had become so deficient that government officials were warning that China was about to repeat the " disaster of 1959 ",

11074-406: The reforms until Chen died in 1995. A key feature of Chen's ideas was to use the market to allocate resources, within the scope of an overall plan. Some reforms of the early 1980s were, in effect, the implementation of a program that Chen had outlined in the mid-1950s. Chen called this the "birdcage economy (鸟笼经济/鳥籠經濟)". According to Chen, "the cage is the plan, and it may be large or small. But within

11187-528: The reforms, the Chinese economy was dominated by state ownership and central planning. From 1950 to 1973, Chinese real GDP per capita grew at a rate of 2.9% per year on average, albeit with major fluctuations. This placed it near the middle of the Asian nations during the same period, with neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore and then rival Chiang Kai-shek 's Republic of China (ROC) outstripping mainland China's rate of growth. Starting in 1970,

11300-481: The same set of simplified characters as mainland China. The first round was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969, consisting of 498 simplified characters derived from 502 traditional characters. A second round of 2287 simplified characters was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 differences from the mainland China system; these were removed in the final round in 1976. In 1993, Singapore adopted

11413-523: The same time, in December 1978, Deng announced a new policy, the Open Door Policy , to open the door to foreign businesses that wanted to set up in China. For the first time since the Kuomintang era, the country was opened to foreign investment . Deng created a series of Special Economic Zones , including Shenzhen , Zhuhai and Xiamen , for foreign investment that were relatively free of

11526-467: The second round completely, though they had been largely fallen out of use within a year of their initial introduction. That year, the authorities also promulgated a final version of the General List of Simplified Chinese Characters . It was identical to the 1964 list save for 6 changes—including the restoration of 3 characters that had been simplified in the first round: 叠 , 覆 , 像 ; the form 疊

11639-585: The state, as the representative of the public interest , would manage resources and production for the benefit of the public. As a form of social ownership, state ownership may be contrasted with cooperatives and common ownership. Socialist theories and political ideologies that favor state ownership of the means of production may be labelled state socialism . State ownership was recognized by Friedrich Engels in Socialism: Utopian and Scientific as, by itself, not doing away with capitalism, including

11752-412: The successive decades; this phenomenon has since been seen as an "economic miracle". In 2010, China overtook Japan as the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP , before overtaking the United States in 2016 as the world's largest economy by GDP (PPP) . The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) carried out the market reforms in two stages. The first stage, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, involved

11865-427: The traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. The Chinese government has never officially announced the completion of the simplification process after the bulk of characters were introduced by the 1960s. In the wake of the Cultural Revolution , a second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977—largely composed of entirely new variants intended to artificially lower the stroke count, in contrast to

11978-833: The traditional character 強 , with 11 strokes is standardised as 强 , with 12 strokes, which is a variant character. Such characters do not constitute simplified characters. The new standardized character forms shown in the Characters for Publishing and revised through the Common Modern Characters list tend to adopt vulgar variant character forms. Since the new forms take vulgar variants, many characters now appear slightly simpler compared to old forms, and as such are often mistaken as structurally simplified characters. Some examples follow: The traditional component 釆 becomes 米 : The traditional component 囚 becomes 日 : The traditional "Break" stroke becomes

12091-522: The use of characters entirely. Instead, Chao proposed that the language be written with an alphabet, which he saw as more logical and efficient. The alphabetization and simplification campaigns would exist alongside one another among the Republican intelligentsia for the next several decades. Recent commentators have echoed some contemporary claims that Chinese characters were blamed for the economic problems in China during that time. Lu Xun , one of

12204-550: The world's biggest booms. Agriculture and light industry have largely been privatized, while the state still retains control over some heavy industries. Despite the dominance of state ownership in finance, telecommunications, petroleum and other important sectors of the economy, private entrepreneurs continue to expand into sectors formerly reserved for public enterprise. Prices have also been liberalized. Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write

12317-425: The years, more than 22,000 Chinese officials were sent to Singapore to study its methods. Generally, reforms in this period started with local experiments that were adopted and expanded elsewhere once their success had been demonstrated. Officials generally faced few penalties for experimenting and failing and those who developed successful programs received nation-wide praise and recognition. The bottom-up approach of

12430-423: Was Chen Yun , regarded by some as the second most powerful person in China after Deng with more conservative ideology of the reforms. Though Deng Xiaoping is credited as the architect of modern China's economic reforms, Chen was more directly involved in the details of its planning and construction, and led a force that opposed many of the reforms from Deng's side. The two sides struggled over the general direction of

12543-464: Was abandoned, confirmed by a speech given by Zhou Enlai in 1958. In 1965, the PRC published the List of Commonly Used Characters for Printing  [ zh ] (hereafter Characters for Printing ), which included standard printed forms for 6196 characters, including all of the forms from the 1956 scheme. A second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977, but was poorly received by

12656-412: Was on a capitalist or socialist path, calling that "development is of overriding importance"; his pragmatic remarks reignited people's enthusiasm for economic reforms in mainland China, therefore resuming the "Reform and Opening" program. Subsequently, Deng's " cat theory " ("I don't care if the cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice") became an underlying ideology guiding the economic reforms, as

12769-400: Was the primary recipient of government investment, which, under the new administration, promoted the rise of large "national champions" which could compete with large foreign corporations. Nevertheless, the share of SOEs in the total number of companies have continued to fall, dropping to 5%, though their share of total output remained at 26%. Exchange rates for the yuan were also liberalized and

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