Wu Jinglian: Selected Works

Author: Wu Jinglian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: China's reform, like that of the Soviet and Eastern European socialist countries, also began in the late 1970s by expanding the autonomy of state-owned enterprises. However, because it was not successful, it shifted to rural reform after only more than a year, transforming the people's commune system into the household responsibility system. This led to the emergence of tens of millions of private agricultural enterprises in China's vast rural areas. Subsequently, the development of township enterprises with semi-governmental characteristics, exemplified by the Suzhou model, supported China's high-speed development in the 1980s. More fundamentally, the legalization of private enterprises and their rapid growth in regions like Wenzhou in Zhejiang followed. By the early 1990s, legally existing private enterprises had become the primary driving force behind China's economic growth. The development of the private sector first fostered a large number of entrepreneurs and simultaneously promoted the formation of competitive markets, putting pressure on the reform of state-owned enterprises. We can clearly see that the growth of the private sector has laid a solid microfoundation for China's market economy. As economic reform progresses, it has also placed strong demands on our political reform, thereby providing a solid social foundation for it. The articles collected in this book precisely document this historical process and validate the positive achievements of China's organic development strategy. The selected works in this anthology are representative pieces from the author's approximately 300 articles written since the end of the Cultural Revolution, hoping to provide some reference for those studying the realities and history of China's reform and development. This self-selected collection condenses the essence of Professor Wu Jinglian's economic research since the reform and opening-up, featuring 59 articles chosen from nearly 300 published between 1980 and 2003.