Economic Development Prospects and Problems in China

In: The annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Band 402, S. 107-116

Abstract

Maoist ideology & econ policies imposed on the realities of China's econ backwardness & the scarcities resulting therefrom have produced a peculiar & sharply contrasting pattern of development during the past 2 decades. The diff's of econ performance were so marked--characterized by rapid expansion in the 1950's & stagnation in the 1960's--that it almost seems as though one were dealing with economies in 2 entirely diff settings, perhaps even in 2 diff countries. The attempt at deliberate industr'ization in China represents an unprecedented case in the history of modern econ growth, comparable only to India. Of the presently developed countries, only preindustr Japan was comparable to contemporary China in terms of per capita income, average productivity of labor, & intensity of pop pressure on arable land resources. However, the dynamics of pop growth was quite diff, & there are of course vast diff's in size & geographic configuration, all of which compound the problems of COMM & diffusion of innovating influences in China as compared to Japan. In spite of these handicaps, China's econ growth since 1949 was of the same order as the long-term expansion in Japan since Meiji. However, the 4% aggregate & roughly 2% per capita rate in China represents an average of sharply fluctuating rates during these past 2 decades, based on markedly differing development strategies adapted by the Chinese leaders in the past 2 decades. Modified HA.