The reform process in the people's republic of China

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Abstract
The question of reform has dominated China's political agenda throughout the 1980s. Differences about the scale, extent and nature of the reforms have been major topics of discussion. These discussions have produced a wide array of policies that have left no institution, organization or sector of the economy untouched. The reforms would not have been possible without major leadership changes, and they draw inspiration not only from previous reform attempts in state‐socialist regimes but also from other Asian countries. The reform programme has as its core a significant liberalization of previous regime practice. In the economic sector, policy has revolved around the promotion of market mechanisms to deal with the inefficiencies of allocation and distribution that occur with the central state planning system. While considerable success has been achieved in the agricultural sphere, progress has been far less dramatic in the industrial sector. This shift to a more market‐oriented economy was not readily served by a rigid, over‐centralized political system dominated by the party, and hence calls have been made for reform of the political system. This reform will be the hardest of all to achieve because of the vested interests it encroaches upon.