China's Reform and Opening-Up Begins Under Deng Xiaoping
- Date
- December 18, 1978
- Category
- Economy & trade
- Region
- China (East Asia)
- Era
- Contemporary
- Significance
On 18 December 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party convened in Beijing and resolved to shift the focus of the Party and state from class struggle to economic construction, launching the policy of Reform and Opening-Up (gaige kaifang).
The session repudiated the 'Two Whatevers' doctrine associated with Hua Guofeng and confirmed Deng Xiaoping, the campaign's 'General Architect,' as China's paramount leader. The reforms dismantled much of the Maoist command economy through the household-responsibility system in agriculture, the dual-price system in industry, the toleration of private enterprise, and the opening of the country to foreign investment via Special Economic Zones such as Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Xiamen. Pursued in service of the Four Modernisations of agriculture, industry, national defence, and science and technology, these policies built what officials termed a 'socialist market economy.' Over the following decades the reforms lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and transformed China into one of the world's largest economies, making 1978 a decisive turning point in modern Chinese and global history.
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Empires active in December 18, 1978
- Soviet Union1922 CE – 1991 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
- Yugoslavia1918 CE – 1992 CE
Related economy & trade events
- The global financial crisis and the collapse of Lehman Brothers15 September 2008
- China Opens Its First Special Economic Zones1980
- The Latin American Debt Crisis Erupts1982
- Nixon shock ends gold convertibility and ushers in 1970s stagflation15 August 1971
- Japan's Asset Bubble Peaks as the Nikkei Hits Record1989
- India's economic liberalisation begins24 July 1991
Further reading
The wider story
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