The Economic Reform and Open-door Policy of China

In December 1978,the Central committee of the Communist Party of China held an historic meeting in Beijing, at which two important decisions were made .One was to open the door of China to the outside world and the other, to invigorate the national economy through reform. As it turned out ,the meeting marked a new page in the annals of China. Since then, China has embarked on a gradual switch from the planned economy to what we now call the socialist market economy.

Reforms came to the rural areas first ,The people's communes were dismantled, thus ending as system that had kept the farmers in an economic straitjacket for years. City reforms came somewhat later and not without difficulty ,Still ,Big strides have been made with achievement yisible to every fair-minded person. For one thing, the old system under which people were paid without having to work hard has been abolished ,For another, large amounts of foreign investment have been pouring in and joint ventures have been mushrooming, especially in the coastal areas, Special economic zones have been set up with shenzhen, Zhuai, Shantou and Xiamen as the four initials, followed by the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, the southeast area of Fujian Province, and Bohai Bay in Guangxi, In the south, the island province of Hainan has been ratified as a special economic area .Last but not least, Pudong, the eastern part of shanghai, has been newly designated as a special economic zone. Finally, private business has been growing fairly fast. While creating jobs and wealth for many people it has made life somewhat easier and more comfortable for the city dwellers.

The successful adoption of major reform measures in finance, taxation, banking, foreign exchange foreign trade ,and investment has brought about a sustained and rapid development in the national economy ,It is estimated that the 1994 gross domestic product (GDP),grew about 11 percent, exceeding 4trillion yuan; the total value of imports and exports increased by about 20 percent, topping US 220 billion. Urban and rural sayings deposits increased by 800 billion yuan; urban and rural people's incomes jumped 7 percent and 4 percent respectively in real terms. All this progress has helped maintain social stability and prepared favorable conditions for further reform and opening up to the outside.

In 1995.the Communist Party of china held another historic meeting in Beijing at which it produced the blue print for the social economic development in 1996-2000,which is known as the 9th Five-Year Plan period, and in 2001-2010.Economic construction, as in the past 17 years, will continue to be the focus of the Party and government effort. Reforms will go on ,so will the effort to open China to the outside world. With Hong Kong returned to the sovereignty of China in July 1997,and with the socialist market economy basically in place in 2000,china holds out a bright and beautiful future for its citizens.