Economic Policy and Political Power in Communist China

Abstract

Developmental strategy in Communist China is a complex of ideological, political, economic, and social vari ables. During the fourteen years of the Chinese People's Re public, the leadership has applied two distinct developmental strategies, one for each of the two five-year plan periods. The first strategy, adapted from the Soviet model, aimed at select development of a modern sector with savings largely generated by the remainder of the economy. The political means chosen were centralized planning and direction with strong emphasis on administrative authority. Hardly were the preconditions for carrying out the first strategy present when the leadership began to modify the system, moving gradually toward a new strategy which achieved full form during the Great Leap For ward. This, in many significant respects, reversed earlier poli cies. Simultaneous development of the entire economy was stressed. Politically, it involved a far-reaching decentraliza tion of authority, with newly created regional and local power wielded by party committees. Socially, it stressed the func tions of the party and the working masses, correspondingly squeezing administrators, technicians, and "intellectuals." Over-all disorganization led early in 1961 to radical modifica tion of Great Leap Forward policy toward national economic "balance." There has been a return to rational bureaucratic modes of operation, but much economic decentralization ef fected late in 1957 remains. Though the economy appears again to be moving, there are indications of political indecision. No new further strategy of development has been announced.