Question

Explain any two major policy decisions made by the Chinese government to open and develop its economy.

Highlight any four major policy decisions taken by the Chinese leadership after 1970 for the modernisation of China.

Answer 1

The Chinese government made several significant policy choices to develop its economy, including:

1. The Chinese leadership took major policy decisions in the 1970s. China ended its political and economic isolation by establishing relations with the United States in 1972.
2. In 1973, Premier Zhou Enlai proposed the ‘four modernisations’ in agriculture, industry, science and technology, and the military.
3. By 1978, then-leader Deng Xiaoping announced the ‘open door’ policy and economic reforms in China. The policy was to generate higher productivity through investments in capital and technology from abroad.
4. The privatisation of agriculture in 1982 was followed by the privatisation of industry in 1998. Trade barriers were eliminated only in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) where foreign investors could set up enterprises. In China, the state has played and continues to play a central role in establishing a market economy.