Economic Policy-Making in China: Summer 1981

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Abstract
More than five years have passed since Mao's death and the arrest of his principal surviving supporters who helped launch and wage the Cultural Revolution. Since 1976 and particularly since late 1978, a major effort has been made to reform the Chinese policy process at the higher levels, especially in the economic realm. Drawing on impressions gained from interviews with Chinese officials in the summer of 1981, as well as a reading of the Chinese press, this article assesses the progress of the reforms. To what extent and in what direction has economic policy making evolved since 1976? What of the Maoist system remains? Further, what are the strengths and deficiencies of the new system? Does the policy process in the economic realm seem capable of directing the substantive economic reforms which the leaders have in mind? These are the questions explored in this article.