Dong Fusheng Discusses the Chinese Economy in Depth

Author: Dong Fushi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: A profound and righteous economist. A bold and kind-hearted elder. He proposed the famous formula "Socialist Market Economy = Social Equity + Market Efficiency." The entire speech was witty, humorous, profound, brilliant, and utterly convincing, earning great admiration. In the academic field, Professor Dong Fushi's most significant theoretical contribution was challenging the taboos of ownership theory in the late 1970s, proposing the issue of ownership reform, and gradually forming a rigorous theoretical system over time. He conducted in-depth research on the relationship between economic operation mechanisms and ownership, proposing that "without reforming ownership, reforms to the economic operation mechanism would not succeed," establishing the theoretical position of ownership reform. He also thoroughly analyzed the goal of economic system reform—transitioning to a market economy—proposing the theoretical basis for reforming ownership. This innovative theoretical system of ownership reform also included other related viewpoints, such as: a single public ownership could only serve as the microfoundation of a planned economy, hence it must be transformed into diversified public ownership to ensure compatibility between multiple forms of public ownership and market mechanisms; socialist economy is a mixed economy dominated by multiple forms of public ownership; non-public ownership is not merely a "useful supplement" to socialist economy but an integral and indispensable part of it; state-owned enterprises should be reformed functionally according to the requirements of a socialist market economy, with both withdrawal and advancement; and views on capital market development, including securities and futures markets, all interconnected with his ownership reform theory. These theories are now almost all part of government documents today, but in the late 1970s and early 1980s, proposing them would have required extraordinary theoretical courage. Additionally, linking market-oriented reforms, Dong Fushi also proposed a comprehensive set of new ideas for sustainable national economic development, such as: shifting the economic development strategy, developing non-agricultural industries in rural non-public ownership to transform the dual economy, and accelerating the development of the western region through leapfrog growth, among other development theories.