Social Impacts of Economics Reform of China during the 20th Century

Social Impacts of Economics Reform of China during the 20th Century

The possibility of significant economic growth in China is not realizable. According to Nosov and Julia, the tremendous growth of Chinas economy in the past decade was as a result of the provision of cheap labor and investment inflow (2016). The main focus was meeting the private consumption demand, which unfortunately can only be an economy’s driver until the year 2030. China is a country that is, on the one hand, trying to adopt a market economy while on the other still maintaining state enterprises and the desire to protect all Chinese workers. China’s consumption of world resources has been classified as wasteful by (Mathew and Tan, 2016) and is strenuous to both country and planet.

In 2005 China State Council issued a policy paper in which it acknowledged its massive exploitation of natural resources and the implications. It, therefore, accepted the remedy for these problems as the adoption of the principle of Circular economy. Implications of this would mean the introduction of Industrial policies, and industries were to be eco-friendly. Recycling industries were exempted from tax (Fewsmith, 2016). China’s economic reforms have been implemented since December 1978 and have significantly impacted the lives of its citizens as well as a contribution to peace and stability in East Asia. The average per capita income in China rose after the introduction of economic reforms. Absolute poverty of the Chinese people was eradicated. The national income as well as tripled after a decade.

In conclusion, the development of market socialism with Chinese characteristic was also realized. The post-Mao era of collectives was marked with shifts in the social hierarchies of the villages. A considerable number of migrants from poor districts moved to urban centers in what (Unger, 2016) termed as class struggle. The villagers had now realized the accumulation of individual wealth as opposed to the Mao principle of collective ownership of property such as land.

 

 

Work cited

Fewsmith, Joseph. Dilemmas of Reform in China: Political Conflict and Economic Debate: Political Conflict and Economic Debate. Routledge, 2016.

Nosov, Vasilii, and Julia Tseplyaeva. “China: Economy in Transition.” Economic Policy 3 (2016): 46-55.

Unger, Jonathan. The transformation of rural China. Routledge, 2016.

Zhou, Yongxin, Nelson Chow, and Yeubin Xu. Socialist Welfare in a Market Economy: Social Security Reforms in Guangzhou, China: Social Security Reforms in Guangzhou, China. Routledge, 2017.