2004 Economy of China

Author: Jin Bei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: China's economic reform was once metaphorically described as "crossing the river by feeling the stones." In an article, I once described this process and its documentation as follows: China's economy experienced a "golden period" of sustained growth in the last two decades of the 20th century, followed by a glorious journey into the 21st century. If we are to uncover the reasons behind this unprecedented success, we could find a thousand justifications, and one of the most important reasons is that countless Chinese people, especially those who were at the forefront of the era, boldly explored the laws of a market economy through practice: success is experience, failure is a lesson; brilliance is achievement, loss is "tuition"; victory is wealth, error is a warning. This great historical process, where millions of people "crossed the river by feeling the stones," was truly a magnificent scene! Over the past two decades, as they moved toward a market economy, people have crossed countless rivers: gentle rivers, calm rivers, rapids, and turbulent rivers. Every time they crossed a river and reached the other shore in victory, they left many deep footprints. The splendid records of facts and the faithful documentation of the era have ultimately become valuable historical archives. For those who experienced it, they are treasured albums; for those who come later, they are textbooks; for researchers, they are archives; for the young, they are sources of knowledge; and for the elderly, they are memoirs. Crossing the river by feeling the stones is not about blindly gambling or aimlessly wandering without a direction. Instead, it is a trial-and-error process like scientific exploration, where hypotheses, planning, experiments, evaluations, summaries, corrections, adjustments, verification, and falsification accompany the entire process of China's economic development and reform. The conscious practice of millions and the collective thinking of millions accumulate the fruits of civilization. Recording the thoughts and experiences during the practice process holds immense value. Economic China aims to focus on important economic events and topics each year, preserving the memory of collective thinking in the historical process. Because preserving memory is the accumulation of civilization, forgetting memory is the destruction of wealth, and the most valuable accumulation of civilization is always accompanied by the memory of thought. Economic China is divided into six sections: "Macro," "Finance and Economy," "Industry," "Business," "Foreign Economy," and "People." Each section selects several important topics, events, or focal figures, with a representative "theme article" (most of which are excerpts from previously published articles, with a few being articles published for the first time) as the centerpiece, supplemented by "Expert Comments," "Background Information," and "In-depth Links" to reflect multi-dimensional information about the entire event or related topics. Alternatively, the theme article may lead to other noteworthy events, figures, and discussions or reflections. The theme articles selected in Economic China are representative or particularly noteworthy, but this does not imply that the editors fully endorse their views and. The "Expert Comments" also reflect the personal opinions of the signatories. The "Background Information" and "In-depth Links" provide readers with broader spaces for reflection. Collective thinking always manifests as differences in opinions between individuals, even sharp conflicts of opinion. Therefore, in Economic China, having different analyses of the same event or different viewpoints on the same topic is entirely appropriate. In summary, Economic China is a platform for collective voices and collective thoughts, embodying the historical memory of "collective thinking." Economic China gathers diverse voices but also has its own purpose: to condense the grand panorama of the economy, to encompass the tumultuous developments, to ensure that words and thoughts are substantive, and to highlight and debate issues that resonate deeply. Economic China is not merely a collection of articles but a living document formed through the combination of refinement, compilation, and original creation.