The Reform and Opening-up

I Historical Background

II Process of Reform and Opening-up

III Effects on China and People’s lives

IV Significance of Reform and Opening-up

I Historical Background

• The economy was heavily disrupted by the war against Japan and the Chinese Civil War from 1937 to 1949, after which the victorious Communists installed a planned economy.

• the economy largely stagnated ( 停滞） and was disrupted by the Great Leap Forward famine and the purges of the Cultural Revolution

• Socialist equality had destroyed the incentive to improve and the economy was riddled with huge inefficiencies

II Process of the Reform and Opening-up

1. 1978–1984

Deng’s first reform began in agriculture. He responded by collectivizing agriculture and emphasizing the Household-responsibility contract system( 家庭联产承包责任制 ), which divided the land of the People’s Communes( 人民公社） into private plots. Reforms were also implemented in urban industry to increase productivity.

The country was opened to foreign investment for the first time. Deng created a series of special economic zones for foreign investment.

2. 1984–1993

During this period, Deng Xiaoping's policies continued beyond the initial reforms. Controls on private businesses and government intervention continued to decrease. 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.

He also reopened the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed by Mao 40 years earlier.

3. 1993–2005

Despite Deng’s death in 1997, reforms continued under his handpicked successors, Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji who were ardent （热心的） reformers. In 1997 and 1998, large-scale privatization occurred, in which all state enterprises, except a few large monopolies, were liquidated and their assets sold to private investors.

4. 2005–present

The conservative Hu-Wen Administration began to reverse many of Deng Xiaoping's reforms in 2005.It increased subsidies and control over the health care sector, halted privatization, and adopted a loose monetary policy.

III Effects on China and People’s lives

1. Effects on China

EconomyChina's economic growth since the reform has been very rapid, exceeding the East Asian Tigers. Economists estimate China’s GDP growth from 1978 to 2005 at 9.5% a year. Since the beginning of Deng Xiaoping's reforms, China's GDP has risen tenfold. Average wages rose sixfold between 1978 and 2005, while absolute poverty declined from 41% of the population to 5% from 1978 to 2001.

Politics

In practice, the Chinese Communist Party has summed up the theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. Chinese foreign policy, oriented toward peaceful development and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, has created a friendly international environment for China's swift development.

Culture

Literature and the arts experienced a great revival in the late 1970s and 1980s. Traditional forms flourished once again, and many new kinds of literature and cultural expression were introduced from abroad.

2.Effects on People’s lives

• Clothes

Food

House

Transportation

70s watch bike sewing-machine

80s TV set  refrigerator washing machine 

90s air-condition  computer mobile phone 21st car house Exclusive furniture

IV Significance of the Reform and Opening-up

• One outstanding achievement is that China's economic and comprehensive national strengths have been continuously enhanced and the living standards and welfare of the people have been further improved. China is currently the world's second largest economy in terms of gross domestic product (GDP).

• Another important change has taken place in the mindset of the people. Thanks to reform and opening up, the Chinese people are freer and more independent. Revolutions in spiritual and intellectual life have motivate hundreds of millions of people who devoted themselves with creativity and enthusiasm to China's socio-economic development.

Thank you !