Deng Xiaoping's Economic Reforms in China. The main features of China's reform and opening up policy - What role do the public, private and mixed sectors play in the development of the economy and how does the government manage to achieve their effective interaction
ON MONDAY, the 17th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CCP) began its work in Beijing. The 2,200 elected delegates represent China's 73 million communists. Since the last congress, which took place exactly five years, the CCP has grown by 6 million people.
During the week of the party forum, its delegates will listen to and approve the report of the CPC Central Committee, the report of the Central Committee Commission on Party Discipline, consider amendments to the Party Rules, and also elect a new party leadership. “The new edition of the Party Charter will fully reflect the latest achievements in the field of adapting Marxism to Chinese conditions, to the requirements arising from the new situation in the country and the world, to the tasks of improving party work and party building,” Li Dongsheng, spokesman for the congress, said on the eve. .
The CCP Congress has attracted close attention not only in China itself, but throughout the world. After all, China is currently the state with the most dynamically developing economy. Considering the fact that China is the most populous country on the planet, even today not a single decision of any significance for the fate of the world can be made without taking into account its opinion and position. And in the very near future, China has every opportunity to become the world's largest superpower.
The rapid development of socialist China is carried out under the leadership of the ruling Communist Party. The main event of the first day of the CPC Congress was the report delivered by General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Hu Jintao. The title of the report is very characteristic and accurately reflects its essence: "Holding high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, fight for a new victory in the full construction of a moderately prosperous society." (We emphasize: moderately prosperous, and not “prosperous,” as this term is inaccurately translated in a number of Russian media. The CCP realistically assesses the state of affairs in the state.) Thus, the CCP will continue to build socialism, not forgetting the national traditions and characteristics of its country. The purpose of this construction is quite specific. “It is important, on the basis of economic development, to pay increased attention to social construction, specifically guaranteeing and improving people's lives, promoting the reform of the social system, expanding public services, improving social management, and promoting social justice. In a word, to make sure that all the people have a place to get an education, earn a living, get medical treatment and live, so that everyone is provided for in old age. This means to stimulate the construction of a harmonious society,” Hu Jintao said.
Enormous work has been done on the way to achieving this goal. Summing up the results of the past five years, the leader of the Chinese Communists noted the significant growth of economic power, a noticeable increase in the living standards of the people, the dynamics in strengthening democracy and the rule of law, and qualitative changes in the field of social and cultural construction. “The Chinese economy, once on the verge of collapse, is now fourth in the world in terms of overall quantitative indicators, and third in terms of imports and exports. The people, who lived in conditions of clothing and food shortages, achieved, on the whole, average prosperity. The number of people in need in the countryside has decreased from 250 million to 20 million,” the CPC leader said.
Record-breaking achievements of China, according to Hu Jintao, would be simply impossible without the systematic efforts of three generations of the leadership of the Communist Party. He stressed that the policy of reform and opening up, whose 30th anniversary will be celebrated next year, is based on the ideas of Mao Zedong. The first generation of leadership of the CPC Central Committee created a new China and accumulated valuable experience in building socialism. “The great cause of reform and openness has been started by the Party and the people under the leadership of the leading collective of the Central Committee of the second generation, the core of which was Comrade Deng Xiaoping. It was inherited, developed and successfully advanced into the 21st century under the leadership of the Third Generation Central Committee, whose core was Comrade Jiang Zemin,” Hu said.
At the same time, there are enough problems in the life of Chinese society, and rapid industrial and economic growth sometimes creates new ones that previously, in conditions of total poverty of the population, did not exist or seemed insignificant. The Chinese leadership understands this well, and therefore one of the main tasks of the congress is to realistically assess the life and development prospects of the country, without falling into extremes of excessive optimism and embellishment, on the one hand, and criticism and slander, on the other. The Chinese Communists see the main method of solving problems in the profound implementation of the scientific concept of development. Hu Jintao pointed out that China has achieved impressive development results that have captured the eyes of the whole world. The productive forces, relations of production, the economic base and superstructure have undergone serious changes of tremendous significance. Nevertheless, the basic reality of China is that the country is and will be for a long time to be at the initial stage of socialism. The contradiction between the constantly growing material and cultural needs of the people and backward social production remains the main contradiction of society.
He stressed that the most important content of the scientific concept of development is development itself. At the center of this concept is a person as the basis of the foundations. The main development requirements are: comprehensiveness, harmony and sustainability, and the root methodology is unified and integrated planning. The report states that the locomotive of economic growth should be domestic consumer demand, which directly depends on the standard of living of the population, and only in second place - external investment and exports.
Another serious problem for China is environmental. Some experts, especially hostile to Chinese socialism, have repeatedly stated that if you take into account the "environmental component" (that is, the funds needed to restore and preserve the natural environment), then China's industrial successes will not be so impressive. However, the point is not in critics and ill-wishers, but in the fact that both for a billion-strong China and for its neighbors, and above all for Russia, the environmental problems caused by the rapid growth of Chinese industry are really extremely acute. And in the near future they may become vital. As Hu Jintao pointed out in his speech, the creation of a resource-saving and environmentally friendly society should be given a prominent place in the strategy of industrialization and modernization, and made it the responsibility of every organization and every family. It is important to improve laws aimed at saving energy and other resources and protecting the environment. It is necessary to practically implement a system of responsibility for saving energy resources and reducing emissions, develop and disseminate advanced technologies.
Economic reforms in China have caused serious social stratification in society, which is also the subject of attention and concern of the CCP. Under socialism, such a stratification is especially dangerous, since it gives rise to doubts among ordinary citizens about the fairness of the existing system. However, it is the socialist way of life that makes it possible to combat this negative phenomenon. Hu Jintao said that it is necessary to deepen the reform of the income distribution system and increase the incomes of the urban and rural population. In the initial distribution and redistribution, it is necessary to properly regulate the relationship between efficiency and fairness, but pay even more attention to fairness. It is necessary to gradually increase the share of incomes of the population in the distribution of national incomes, to increase the share of remuneration for work in the initial distribution. Specially raise the incomes of low-paid categories of people by increasing both the rate of funds for overcoming poverty and the rate of the minimum wage. Prepare the conditions for even more people to receive income from property. To create equality of chance, improve the distribution order, and gradually eliminate the trend of widening income distribution gap.
Another negative consequence of the reforms is corruption. “The character and purpose of the Communist Party of China predetermined its absolute incompatibility with all negative, corrupting phenomena. The uncompromising pursuit of corruption and its effective prevention depend on the disposition of the people towards us and the fate of the party itself,” Hu Jintao said.
As already calculated, Hu Jintao used the word "democracy" 60 times in his report. He noted that through the expansion of inner-party democracy, it is necessary to stimulate democracy among the people and, through the strengthening of inner-party harmony, to stimulate social harmony.
Since the CPC is the basis of China's statehood, the fate of the entire country directly depends on the paths of its development chosen by the Party. It has been 86 years since the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, it has ruled the country for 58 years and has more than 70 million members. Therefore, the tasks of its education and management are now much more difficult than ever before, the report notes. The reform and openness carried out under the leadership of the party, on the one hand, inhale great vitality into it, and on the other hand, put it in the face of unprecedented new problems and new trials: “From the day of its birth, our party boldly assumed the historical mission of the Chinese people to a happy life, to the great rebirth of the Chinese nation. The Chinese Communists of our time must continue to carry out this historical mission of theirs."
SOCIAL SCIENCES AND MODERNITY
EXPERIENCE OF FOREIGN MODERNIZATION
V.G. GELBRAS
30 years of China's opening up reforms
In December 1978, the third plenum of the 11th CPC Central Committee adopted a decision that ushered in the era of "reform and openness." The new policy was carried out gradually, in the course of searching for ways and forms of its implementation, realizing the achievements and omissions, overcoming the problems and contradictions that arose at each new stage of solving the tasks set. It was necessary, sometimes significantly, to change many views and attitudes, to clarify the prevailing ideas about the processes taking place in the country and in the world. Over the past years, China has undergone tremendous changes, duly called "historic" in the country and abroad.
Stages of socio-economic renewal of the country
The first stage covered 1979-1984. His main achievement - the aforementioned plenum of the CPC Central Committee announced the completion of the "cultural revolution" and the transition to solving urgent problems of the country's development. The authorities ensured the normalization of the situation in all areas of public life after the devastating "cultural revolution", but the plenum did not provide for any innovative measures, not to mention revolutionary changes. It proclaimed only a categorical rejection of the ideological and political dogmas of the party of the "cultural revolution" period. The rise of productive forces has been placed at the center of activity. The party's economic policy was conceived in strict accordance with the traditional norms of a planned economy. At the same time, the plenum's communiqué contained phrases that anticipated the scope and depth of subsequent transformations, "like a revolution."
Confirmation of the strategic goal of the country's development was of great importance. The plenum demanded, according to the Xinhua news agency of December 24, 1978, "in complete unanimity, to further develop the political situation of stability and solidarity, immediately mobilize and, straining all our strength and energy, make a new great campaign in the name of transforming our country by the end of this century into a modern socialist power." Deng Xiaoping was more radical: "We must reach and surpass the world's advanced level by the end of this century, that is, within 22 years, pass the path that others have traveled for 40-50 years and even more" (Xinhua News Agency, March 20, 1978) .
Meanwhile, a spontaneous peasant movement began in the country. According to official data, 250 million peasants were starving at that time, and probably no less
Gelbras Vilya Gdalievich - Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Institute of Asian and African Countries, Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov, chief researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
had to lead a half-starved existence. The peasantry sought to abandon the egalitarian distribution of the results of labor within the framework of "communes" and to switch to an egalitarian distribution of land. The authorities could not agree with this demand for a long time. It was very contrary to the Marxist-Leninist dogmas and the ideology of the party. However, convinced of the positive results of the peasant initiative, in 1984 the party announced the assignment of contract land plots to peasant households. "Communes", "large", "small" brigades were disbanded. Thus, the former notions of "people's communes" as a ready-made form of transition to communism are consigned to oblivion.
The municipal authorities have been restored. Instead of land ownership granted as a result of the agrarian reform, peasants were given the right to manage on contracted land plots. The land itself outside the cities was declared the property of a "collective of villagers." This concept has not yet been specified. The preservation of collective ownership of land made it possible to declare house-to-house work as part of the socialist economy.
The second stage covered 1984-1992. In 1984, the strategic task of economic growth was specified. By the end of the century, it is planned to achieve a 4-fold increase in GDP and ensure China's entry into the leading economies of the world.
The Third Plenum of the Twelfth CPC Central Committee decides on economic reform. The transition to the creation in the country of a planned-market system of economy under the motto "the plan is the main thing, the market is auxiliary" is proclaimed. In practice, contract forms of economic relations in the financial system, in relations between authorities and enterprises, between enterprises and other structures of the real sector of the economy, began to be widely used. Small and medium-sized enterprises are allowed to lease, transfer to the ownership of the labor collective, on a contract basis to private individuals.
The rights of state enterprises have been expanded. After fulfilling the plan, they are allowed to produce above-plan products and independently sell it on the market. A "two-level" system of prices has been introduced: state, planned, and contractual, market prices. These norms caused the emergence of various relations between authorities and administrations, manufacturers, trade and marketing organizations and consumers, but at the same time - the spread of speculative and illegal business operations that contributed to the rapid rise in prices.
The state headed for a sharp increase in the rate of economic growth. The rise in agricultural production, the harvest in 1984 of the maximum volumes of basic crops became a powerful factor in the revival of the entire economic life of the country, a noticeable increase in the standard of living of the population, especially the peasantry. A large amount of complete equipment is imported into the country, which made it possible to create completely new branches of heavy and light industry. In 1987, three years ahead of schedule, GDP doubled compared to 1980. Thus, the first important strategic goal was achieved.
To ensure the accelerated growth of production, the state sharply increases capital investments in fixed capital, introduces an excessive mass of liquidity into the economy, which causes a sharp rise in prices. As a result, in 1989, unrest broke out among the population. The largest demonstration in Tiananmen Square in Beijing is suppressed with the help of the army. 1989-1992 became years of confusion for the authorities, slowing down economic reforms, restoring order in the economy and resolving the problems that arose.
The third stage covers 1992-2002. In 1992, there was a refusal to focus on a "planned-commodity" economy. The country is moving towards building a "socialist market economy" and implementing a strategy for its export orientation. Painstaking work is beginning to modernize the foundations of the economic activity of enterprises and their relationship with government bodies and the financial system. It stimulates the inflow of foreign capital into the country. Districts are created
production of export products, where foreign direct investment is concentrated. The predominant part of national capital investments is directed to these regions. The orientation of enterprises to meet the needs of the foreign market, first of all, caused many changes in the system of mastering new equipment and technologies, in intra-factory management. There was a system of studying the world market. The export orientation of the economy is being broadly interpreted under the slogan "Go outside!". The export of capital begins.
The export orientation of the economy required the concentration of gigantic funds on the creation and expansion of export production areas. Its build-up led to the transformation of exports into one of the main pillars of economic growth. At the same time, there was a delay in the growth of the economy in the interior regions, aimed at meeting domestic demand and the domestic market. The increase in incomes of the population has slowed down. The authorities have limited support for agricultural production, the countryside, the peasantry, by increasing the withdrawal of resources from the agricultural sector.
In 1995, five years ahead of schedule, GDP was doubled again. Thus, another strategic goal of economic growth was realized. The country is developing a system of enterprises owned by the state and non-state owners. Private enterprise is emerging. The system of lifelong employment is being destroyed. State-owned enterprises, in order to increase production efficiency, have begun to release redundant personnel. There was a need to create systems of social insurance and social security, to eliminate many political, economic and social barriers between enterprises of different forms of ownership, between the population of the city and the countryside. Peasants were able to find work in the cities. There were powerful migration flows within the country.
The fourth stage dates back to 2002-2008, which marked the beginning of a new stage of industrialization. On the one hand, the "Go outside!" strategy continues to be implemented. with increasing export potential. The rate of its growth is so high that there are excessive production capacities in the country in some branches of heavy industry. On the other hand, the development of industry was hampered by the underdevelopment of the domestic market.
China's accession to the WTO caused changes in the development of industry, in its export orientation. Experiencing a shortage of many resources, seeking to master new international markets, China officially embarked on "transnational economics", the formation of its own transnational corporations, and active operations in the world markets for capital, raw materials, and product sales. One of these measures was the conclusion of an agreement with the ASEAN countries on the creation of a free trade zone within 10 years.
Since the mid 1990s. work was underway to create a "system of modern enterprises". Its purpose and content were determined by the needs of transforming state enterprises as cells of a single state planned economy into independent economic structures owned by the state. In March 2003, the State Committee for the Control and Management of State Property was formed as part of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. Its organs are formed on the wire
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Nearly 40 years of reform and opening up have helped China make significant progress, but it has also created ideological doubts. The peculiarity of historical conditions made the path of China's development confusing and complicated, the consequence of which was the opposition of some people to the policy of reforms and openness and the classical socialism of K. Marx and F. Engels. This undermined the belief in a continuity between classical Marxism and Chinese-style Marxism and created an urgent need for unity of understanding.
1. Successes of the policy of reforms and openness, its significance and subsequent ideological doubts
During the policy of reforms and openness, the ownership structure in China changed from a single (public, state, collective) to a system of public ownership as the main one. The development of individual, private, foreign and joint capital mobilized the activity of all owners of factors of production, which gave impetus and energy to the whole society, and the economy continued to grow rapidly. Since 1978, China has risen from tenth place in the world in terms of GDP to second place, and in terms of per capita GNI - from 175th to 114th place. Since the beginning of reform and opening up in 1978, the per capita national income in India and China has been at the same level. By the end of 2013, it increased by 8.2 times in India, by 34.5 times in China, and in Russia from 1982 to 2013. - 9.4 times. As the average per capita income grew, the Engel coefficient used to measure the standard of living decreased from 57.5% in 1978 to 36.3% in 2012 in the city, and from 67.7% to 39.3% in the countryside.
The policy of reform and opening up helps to gradually realize the "Chinese dream", which includes the prosperity of the country, the revival of the nation and the well-being of the people. We have dreamed of this for over 170 years. From 1840 to 1949 it took us almost a hundred years to take the first step towards the "Chinese dream" - to achieve independence and the liberation of the Chinese nation. With the help of the Communist Party led by Mao Zedong, classical Marxism harmoniously combined with Chinese reality, which determined the unique revolutionary path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The Chinese people rose to their feet and began to realize the second stage of the "Chinese Dream" - the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, headed by Deng Xiaoping, determined the path of building socialism with Chinese characteristics; Based on the task of firmly adhering to the four basic principles, he chose the policy of reform and opening up, which brought prosperity to the people. Since then, China has taken off the socialist hat of poverty.
60 years of history of China's development demonstrate the fluctuations (fluctuations) of China on the path of economic development. Cao Siyuan of the National Research Center for Social Sciences in Beijing found that the ratio between the shares of the public and private sectors of the economy fluctuated: by 1999 it had returned to 1949 levels. This reflects the development of the private sector from positive to negative and then back to positive and demonstrates the tortuous path of the Chinese economy.
The complexity of China's development caused various ideological fluctuations. There were expressions "lighting the left headlight, turn right", "under the banner of socialism, follow the path of capitalism." In 2007, 23% of students in some universities in Beijing believed that the policy of reform and openness ran counter to the scientific socialism of Karl Marx. In recent years, the view has emerged that 30 years before and 30 years after the revolution are mutually exclusive. Some scientists say they have never seen a development so consistent with the phrase "the farther into the forest, the more firewood." This indicates that some people do not see the connection between the policy of reforms and openness and the classical socialism of K. Marx and F. Engels, which did not speak about the possibility of a market economy and private property under socialism.
The reason for the ideological fluctuations lies in different interpretations of the policy of reforms and openness. Now scientists have two points of view: according to some, the policy of reforms and openness is an analogue of V.I. Lenin during the transitional period at the initial stage of socialism. Others believe that it demonstrates the discrepancy between the theory of classical socialism and the reality of the socialist state and proves utopianism, since the absence of private property and the market is impossible. The author of this article adheres to the first point of view.
2. The policy of reforms and openness is a strategic move in the transition through the "Kavda Gorges" of capitalism
The theory put forward by K. Marx in the last years of his life about the transition of Russia through the "Kavda Gorges" of capitalism is of guiding importance for the backward states of the East, but was not sufficiently appreciated. This theory was put forward by K. Marx during the controversy between Russian populists and liberals about whether Russia, like all states, can and should go through the capitalist stage of development, or whether a direct transition to socialism should be made on the basis of the village community. K. Marx and F. Engels considered it possible for Russia to pass through the “Kavdinian gorges” of capitalism, but on the condition of a continuity between the revolutions in Russia and Western Europe.
In 1881, K. Marx, in an outline of an answer to a letter to Vera Zasulich, concluded that “Russia can introduce into the community all the positive achievements obtained by the capitalist system without passing through its Kavda gorges”, “... it can learn its positive achievements without going through all its terrible ups and downs", "... she can start a new life without resorting to suicide". This point of view is also present in the discussion of F. Engels in 1875 with the ideologist of the Russian populists P.N. Marx and F. Engels to the publication of the “Manifesto of the Communist Party” in Russian, as well as in 1894 in the afterword of F. Engels to the work “On the Social Question in Russia”. This opinion is substantiated by the fact that the historical inevitability of the initial accumulations of capitalism is limited to the countries of Western Europe and cannot be directly transferred to the Russian community, and the history of capitalism in Western Europe must turn into a philosophical and historical theory of a universal path of development, become a universal key to predicting development trends, regardless of historical circumstances.
Of course, in other works of the classics one can find some seemingly negative conclusions. In 1867, K. Marx, in the preface to Capital, stated: “Society, even if it has attacked the trail of natural law ... can neither skip the natural phases of development, nor cancel the latter by decrees. But it can shorten and alleviate the pangs of childbirth. In 1894, F. Engels, analyzing the social problems of Russia, said: “It is historically impossible that a society standing at a lower level of economic development would have to resolve the tasks and conflicts that arose and could arise only in a society standing at a much higher level. stages of development ... Each given economic formation must solve its own tasks arising from itself; to take on the tasks facing another completely alien formation would be absolute nonsense.
However, he further states categorically: “After the victory of the proletariat and the transfer of the means of production into common ownership among the Western European peoples, those countries that have just happened to embark on the path of capitalist production and in which tribal orders still survive ... can use these remnants of communal ownership and the corresponding folk customs as a powerful means to greatly shorten the process of our development towards a socialist society and to avoid most of the suffering and struggle through which we have to make our way in Western Europe. But the inevitable condition for this is the example and active support of the still capitalist West ... only when the backward countries see in this example “how it is done” ... only then will these backward countries be able to embark on the path of such an abbreviated development process.
Thus, do Marx and Engels agree that the backward states must pass through the "Kavda Gorges" of capitalism? In accordance with the scope of the transition, we can interpret the phrase "leaping over the entire capitalist period, enter socialism" in the narrow sense as a "great transition", and the phrase "to shorten and alleviate the pangs of capitalist development" in a broad sense, call the "small transition". The conditions for the implementation of the first are more severe, more complicated, but there were many such precedents in the history - for example, the transition of the Germans through a feudal society, the transition of America and Australia from a primitive society to a capitalist one, the transition of the peoples of Tibet and the Liangshan Autonomous Region of Sichuan Province from a slave-owning society to socialism.
Difficulties in the second type of transition are less, and the probability of success is greater. The choice of transition is determined by the current social and historical environment. History has shown that the historical conditions spoken of by the teachers of the revolution were not at all ready, and Russia was unable to carry out, in the narrow sense, the “great transition” through capitalism. Capitalist production relations quickly swallowed up the traditional structure of the countryside, but in the conditions of a semi-feudal semi-colonial socio-economic formation, capitalism was interrupted 50 years later by the October Revolution under the leadership of V.I. Lenin.
At that time, G.V. Plekhanov, K. Kautsky and N.N. Sukhanov strongly objected to the intentions of V.I. believed that "Russia has not yet ground the flour from which it would be possible to bake the wheat pie of socialism." In 1885, in the book Our Differences, G.V. Plekhanov wrote: “If, after all that has been said, we once again ask ourselves whether Russia will pass through the school of capitalism, then without hesitation we can answer with a new question - why not she won't graduate from the school she's already enrolled in?" . K. Kautsky argued that a “small transition”, even in a broad sense, is also very dangerous: socialist Russia is like a “premature baby”, and the October Revolution under the leadership of the Bolsheviks is like a pregnant woman, and, wanting to make a crazy furious leap, to reduce an unbearable pregnancy, she causes premature birth, usually leading to the death of the child.
In response to their criticism in 1923, V.I. Lenin, being ill and dictating orally, completes the work “On Our Revolution”, where, ridiculing G.V. Plekhanov and K. Kautsky, he says that they do not understand the dialectics of the revolution , do not see the peculiarities of the order and form of development of the Russian revolution. He asks: “In what books did you read that such modifications of the usual historical order are unacceptable or impossible? ... A textbook written according to Kautsky was a very useful thing for its time. But it is time to abandon the idea that this textbook provided for all forms of development of further world history. This shows that V.I. Lenin, like K. Marx and F. Engels, opposes a mechanistic understanding of the general patterns of change and the general order of development of socio-economic formations. History has shown that the “premature baby” of the USSR predicted by K. Kautsky lived for more than 70 years, and after its collapse, each of the CIS countries again fell into the “Kavda Gorges” of capitalism.
The conditions in which this a priori unhealthy premature baby had to grow up were extremely poor: without reliance on the socialist revolutions of the West, one could only expect its economic blockade and military siege, as well as an arms race with a peaceful evolution. Nevertheless, the Soviet Union successfully carried out a "small transition" in a broad sense, achieved significant successes that attracted the attention of the whole world: in just two five-year plans, it passed the path of industrialization, which took Western countries a hundred years.
Russia has become an example and support for China in the implementation in the broadest sense of the transition through the "Caucasian Gorges" of capitalism. Mao Zedong formulated the reason for China's choice of the path of Marxism as follows: "Changing the path in a stalemate." Neither China nor the Soviet Union were able to carry out the "great" transition in the narrow sense through the "Kavda gorges" of capitalism, but to some extent carried out the "small transition" in the broad sense, having achieved significant success. In semi-colonial semi-feudal China, bureaucratic capitalism, represented by large landlords and big bourgeoisie, had a 20-year history of development, national capitalism also developed for more than 50 years, but was supplanted and suppressed by imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism.
The new democratic and socialist revolution led by the CCP reduced the suffering of the Chinese people from imperialism and bureaucratic capitalism. Fortunately, the PRC, with the help of the USSR, created an independent integral industrial system in just a few decades. The policy of reform and opening up has become a strategic move in the implementation of the transition in a broad sense. Since a backward state cannot carry out the development of production relations without a sufficient level of productive forces, it is necessary to achieve the successes of capitalism in a short period, otherwise the newborn socialism runs the risk of dying at a young age and falling back into the “Kavda Gorges” of capitalism. In that case, how can a backward socialist state achieve the successes of capitalism? Who will undertake the task of developing the productive forces? This heavy burden naturally fell on the shoulders of the proletariat, led by the CCP. In the PRC, as in other socialist states, the party faced the problem of how to take advantage of the positive results of capitalism. But in the conditions of confrontation between the two camps, the favorable opportunity for this has disappeared, which for a backward socialist state can appear only in conditions of "peaceful development". Thanks to the policy of reform and opening up, China attracted foreign capital and equipment, filled the gap in financing, and accelerated the process of modernization.
3. The policy of reform and openness is a clever use of circumvention tactics during the transition period in the initial stage of socialism
After the October Revolution in Russia, in order to quickly implement a grandiose strategy of transition through the "Kavda Gorges" of capitalism, V.I. Lenin chose frontal tactics, then the tactics of bypassing the transition and moderate retreat. After the victory of the October Revolution, he analyzed the Russian economy and considered that Soviet Russia should move to socialism, bypassing the intermediate stage of state capitalism, but since the military situation did not allow this, Russia was forced to resort to a three-year policy of "war communism". After the end of the war, V.I. Lenin carried out a strategic retreat in the economy in the form of a transition to the NEP and the use of state capitalism for development. He emphasized the moderation of the retreat: "We ... retreat back ... in order to ... then run up and jump forward more strongly." After coming to power, M.S. Gorbachev, seeing that the USSR was faced with a choice of three paths: follow the old path, return to the transitional period of mutual assistance of economic sectors, or retreat even more - to social capitalism - chose the third path.
The policy of reforms and openness is the second deft use by China of V. I. Lenin's roundabout tactics. It was first applied during the transitional period after the formation of the PRC, when state capitalism was used to restore and develop the national economy, but soon, through the "One Industrialization and Three Reforms", the PRC entered the socialist stage.
In 1979, Ye Jianying first put forward the concept of "the initial stage of socialism." In 1981, at the 3rd plenum of the Central Committee of the 11th convocation, this term was first used, and in 1987, in the report of the 13th Congress of the CPC, it was explained: “It is not the initial stage through which any state must go through on the path to socialism, but this is an obligatory period through which our country had to pass, being in conditions of backward productive forces and an undeveloped commodity economy. Finished in the 50s. socialist transformation of private ownership of the means of production, China has come to socialist modernization. It took at least a hundred years to pass the initial stage of socialism. This means that we must continue to use capitalism to develop backward productive forces, and only a policy of reform and opening up can shorten the development time.
Among the 566 students surveyed at some universities, 44% believe that the initial stage of socialism is incomplete socialism, and the plurality of economic sectors corresponds to the realities of our country. In the undeveloped capitalist states, rapidly built socialism, content only with the scientific socialism of K. Marx and incomplete capitalism, can only be low-level. The path of economic sector diversification that Russia and China have traveled is the result of how the laws of the economy are forced to give way to society in transition. The states that have announced the transition to socialism, in which the development of productive forces is inferior to the capitalist countries, will certainly face the need to use capitalism. But it differs from capitalism in the capitalist countries: here it is only a strategic means of realizing socialism.
Conclusion
Marx's theory of the transition through the "Kavdinsky gorges" of capitalism and Lenin's roundabout tactics are the connecting factors of classical and real socialism. Only by looking at the reform and opening up policy from this point of view can one see the logical connection between socialism with Chinese characteristics and classical socialism. Although now the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which is an indicative theoretical result of the policy of reform and opening up, is the greatest unifying factor, one should beware of diametrically opposed interpretations in academic circles arising from different points of view, avoid the danger of deviating from the principles of scientific socialism.
There are many forks in the path of the policy of reform and openness, and only by considering it as a strategy for moving through the “Kavda Gorges” of capitalism and as a roundabout tactic, as well as a successful path and an inevitable stage in building socialism in backward states, can one guarantee that socialism will not deviate from China. specificity from scientific socialism. This requires close attention and timely resolution of some of the social problems that the policy of reform and openness brings. Thus, the tendency towards excessive transfer to private ownership of the process of reforming state enterprises, as well as the leakage of state property that accompanies this process, weakened the economic base in which socialism occupies a dominant position. Due to poor control, problems of corruption, tax evasion, difficulties arose due to the full commercialization of such areas as public health, education, and transport.
In 2007, students at a number of universities were most dissatisfied with class stratification and believed that the lack of general wealth did not correspond to the ideals of classical socialism. In China, the Gini coefficient, which is an indicator of income differentiation, has already exceeded the international warning line of 0.4. At a press conference of the Information Bureau of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, a representative of the State Bureau of Statistics for the first time published the Gini coefficient in China for the period 2003-2014: from 0.479 in 2003 it rose to 0.491 in 2008, and in 2012 it decreased to 0.474, which is higher than in India (0.33) and Russia (0.40). In 2012, in China, the income gap between the 5% of families with the highest and lowest income was 30 times in rural areas and 35 times in urban areas.
These problems affect social stability and can lead to alienation of power and political crisis. The Marxist Party, at the head of the socialist state, must first of all steadfastly defend the four basic principles of the frontier of the policy of reform and opening up, the four pillars that support the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics. If these boundaries are violated, one may face the risk of the collapse of the state and the collapse of the “Chinese dream”.
In addition, along with the improvement of the conditions for fair competition, it is necessary to adhere to the socialist direction of economic macroregulation; taking into account the interests of the broadest masses, to increase the ability to control the market economy, to prevent the transformation of the chosen political course into an uncontrollable car, when “the car does not drive quite the way, and very often not at all the way the one who sits at the wheel of this car imagines” . By increasing the intensity of regulation of secondary and tertiary distribution, it is necessary to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, and continuously make efforts to achieve overall prosperity. Only in this way is there hope for a century of party and state building to realize the Chinese dream - to ensure the great prosperity of the Chinese nation.
Translation by K.E.Kotsik
Literature
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2. Forward the Road of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics (Report from the 13th Session of the NPC), NPC Database
(http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64162/64168/64566/65447/4526368.html) (accessed May 4, 2017).
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5 Kavdinsky gorges - a historical place where military events unfolded, marked by the humiliating defeat of the Roman army. Subsequently, they were called the "Gorges of Shame", which symbolizes the disastrous historical experience.
By the end of 1976, the People's Republic of China found itself in a state of deep socio-political and economic crisis. The cause of the crisis was the militaristic great-power course of Mao Zedong and his supporters, the voluntaristic policy of the "Great Leap Forward", the Maoist "cultural revolution". According to the Chinese press, 1966-1976. became a "lost decade", which threw the country back, putting the national economy on the brink of collapse.
The country's economy was almost completely destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people were below the poverty line. The "class struggle" declared during the "cultural revolution" further exacerbated the accumulated socio-political and economic contradictions. The social policy of Mao Zedong led to a split in society - a phenomenon that is directly opposite to the strengthening of political and moral unity, which is characteristic of a socialist society.
The leadership that came to power after the death of Mao Zedong (September 9, 1976), headed by Chairman of the Central Committee of the CPC and Premier of the State Council of the PRC Hua Guofeng, an adherent of the "cultural revolution", announced the continuation of the course of Mao Zedong. The process of reforming the Maoist leadership, which became necessary, was accompanied by a struggle between groups for predominance in the party and state apparatus. The leading positions were gradually occupied by the Maoist-pragmatic group headed by Deng Xiaoping, whose rehabilitation took place in June 1977 (a year after his second dismissal) at the Third Plenum of the tenth convocation of the CPC Central Committee. Deng Xiaoping was again reinstated in all posts - Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Chairman of the Military Council and Chief of the General Staff of the PLA, Deputy Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. Hua Guofeng took over as Chairman of the CPC Central Committee. However, already in the late 70s, Deng Xiaoping became the leader of the party and the country.
The basis for the practical development of Deng Xiaoping's reformist ideas was the course of the "four modernizations" approved in the mid-70s, which set the goal of transforming four areas - agriculture, industry, the army, science and technology. The formula of "four modernizations" reflects the material content of the reform. If we talk about the ideological and political line, then its essence is represented by "four basic principles": the socialist path of development, the democratic dictatorship of the people, the leadership of the Communist Party, Marxism-Leninism, the ideas of Mao Zedong.
At the III Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPC of the eleventh convocation, held on December 18-22, 1978, on the initiative of Deng Xiaoping and his associates, a historic decision was made to abandon the theory of "continuation of the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat" and the political orientation of waging "class struggle" as the main task , and shift the center of gravity of party work to the implementation of modernization. According to this, a new policy of "reform and opening up" of the PRC was announced and approved.
Thus, reforms and an open policy were declared to be the main means of modernization. The reforms are aimed at bringing production relations in line with the tasks of developing the productive forces so that production relations do not become an inhibitory factor for the development of the country. And an open policy is designed to include the PRC in the process of globalization of the economy and other spheres of life of the human community, actively attract foreign capital, use the achievements of science and technology, and managerial experience in order to ultimately increase China's global competitiveness.
The reform process was characterized by Deng Xiaoping as the "second revolution" after 1949, but not a revolution aimed at demolishing the old superstructure and against any social class, but a revolution in the sense of "the revolutionary renewal of socialism on its own basis through self-improvement".
The goal of socialist modernization is to bring China by the middle of the 21st century to the level of moderately developed countries in terms of production per capita and, on this basis, to achieve the general well-being of its citizens. The path of modernization is the accelerated growth of economic potential, its qualitative renewal and increase in efficiency based on the development of scientific and technical potential, based on the fact that science is the "main productive force."
From the very beginning of the development of the country's modernization strategy, Deng Xiaoping abandoned dogmatic adherence to the canons of socialist construction adopted in the USSR and "led a search for the construction of his own model of socialism with Chinese characteristics." The essence of “national specificity” was seen by the reformer politician in the historically established and objectively determined socio-economic backwardness of the country, the shortage of arable land and other necessary resources to ensure normal living conditions and development of a country with a billion people. Taking into account the fact that overcoming China's backwardness will take a long time, a fundamental theoretical position was adopted that the PRC is at the initial stage of socialism, which will last until the middle of the 21st century.
Thus, in order to ensure the main internal condition for the normal course of reforms - political stability, the country's political life was built in accordance with the "four basic principles" put forward by Deng Xiaoping: follow the socialist path, adhere to the dictatorship of the proletariat, adhere to the leadership of the CPC, Marxism-Leninism and the ideas of Mao Zedong . No deviations from this line in the direction of political and ideological liberalization were allowed.
However, Deng Xiaoping managed to start a full-scale implementation of the modernization program only after creating the necessary political conditions for this. Economic reform, according to Deng Xiaoping's theory, is impossible without the reform of the political system.
A special place in the reform of the political system, and in general in the process of modernization, was given to the ruling party as a guarantor of ensuring socio-political stability, without which it seemed impossible to successfully pursue a course towards socialist modernization. In this regard, issues of party building, strengthening party discipline and strengthening internal control of the party were constantly in the center of attention of the leadership of the CPC. The greatest importance in the reform of the political system was given to the development of a comprehensive legislative and regulatory framework and its implementation, the transformation of China into a modern legal state, "ruled on the basis of law."
The content of the reform of the political system, aimed at the development of democratization, was seen in the development and strengthening of the existing system of representative bodies of power (assemblies of people's representatives, etc.), the expansion of their controlling functions and democratic principles in their activities, the simplification and reduction of the administrative apparatus, a clear division powers between party and administrative bodies, between the center and the localities, and so on.
In Deng Xiaoping's theory of modernization, the human factor was of paramount importance. The program of educating the "new man" has been introduced since the beginning of the 80s as part of the course towards the creation of a socialist spiritual culture, covering the entire spiritual sphere of the life of Chinese society - ideology, culture itself, morality, law - and aimed at the formation of a modern cultural and civilizational environment, without which modernization is unthinkable.
In the process of developing China's modernization strategy, Deng Xiaoping revised the previous concept of the development of the modern world, which boiled down to the fact that it was based on world war and revolution. According to Deng Xiaoping's theory, the main trends that determine the state of modern international relations are peace and development, the preservation of which is an external guarantee of the successful modernization of the PRC. Finally, an integral part of Deng Xiaoping's modernization program is the completion of the country's unification according to the "one state, two systems" formula, which provides for the preservation of the existing capitalist system in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan after their reunification with the PRC.
Comrade Deng Xiaoping, a veteran of the revolution and a leading political figure in the PRC, was named "the chief architect of Chinese reforms" at the opening of the 13th Congress of the Communist Party of China on October 25, 1987.
During an inspection trip to southern China in early 1992, Deng Xiaoping draws conclusions about the need to further accelerate reform and development based on expanding the scope of market relations and proposes three criteria to determine the effectiveness of ongoing reforms and open policies: whether the reforms contribute to the development of productive forces, promote whether they strengthen the comprehensive state power, whether they contribute to raising the living standards of the people.
Developing the reform, the leadership of the People's Republic of China, headed by Deng Xiaoping, made a theoretical "breakthrough" at the III Plenum of the CPC Central Committee of the fourteenth convocation in 1993, announcing the combination of a market economy with socialism.
At the 15th Congress of the CPC in 1997, the Party Rules included a provision on the leading role of the "theory of Deng Xiaoping" in the initial stage of socialism. It is declared a new stage in the development of Marxism in China, the second theoretical achievement after the "ideas of Mao Zedong", "the continuation and development of the ideas of Mao Zedong", a scientific system for building socialism with Chinese characteristics.
The current leaders of the PRC not only emphasize their adherence to the ideas of the "architect of reforms", but also develop them as new problems arise. The new leaders of China are trying to make the country's development more comprehensive and coordinated, without abandoning the policy of "reform and opening up" outlined by Deng Xiaoping.
Summing up the above, it is necessary to note the following: the Maoist "cultural revolution" cost the country dearly and brought the PRC's economy to a crisis state. The experiments of Mao Zedong clearly demonstrated that the cruel (Stalinist at its core) model of socialist construction does not produce the desired results and is destructive. Returning to power in 1977, Deng Xiaoping embarked on a policy of modernizing China. A turning point in the history of the PRC was the holding of the 3rd Plenum of the 11th CPC Central Committee in December 1978, which became the starting point for the process of modernizing the country. The most important merit of Deng Xiaoping is that the policy pursued by him was entirely subordinated to the task of building up the comprehensive state power and improving the life of the people.
Deng Xiaoping is one of the prominent politicians of communist China. It was he who had to deal with the disastrous consequences of the policies of Mao Zedong and the "cultural revolution" carried out by the famous "gang of four" (these are his associates). For ten years (from 1966 to 1976) it became obvious that the country did not make the expected "great leap", therefore pragmatists came to replace the supporters of revolutionary methods. Deng Xiaoping, whose policy is marked by consistency and the desire to modernize China, to preserve its ideological foundations and originality, considered himself one of them. In this article, I would like to reveal the essence of the transformations carried out under the leadership of this person, as well as to understand their meaning and significance.
Rise to power
Deng Xiaoping overcame a thorny career path before becoming the unofficial leader of the CCP. Already by 1956, he was appointed to the post of Secretary General of the Central Committee. However, he was removed from his post after ten years of service in connection with the start of the "cultural revolution", which included a large-scale purge of both personnel and the population. Already after the death of Mao Zedong and the arrest of his close associates, the pragmatists were rehabilitated, and already during the 3rd plenum of the eleventh convocation party, Deng Xiaoping's reforms in China began to be developed and implemented.
Policy features
It is important to understand that in no case did he renounce socialism, only the methods of its construction changed, and a desire arose to give the political system in the country a uniqueness, Chinese specificity. By the way, Mao Zedong's personal mistakes and atrocities were not advertised - the blame fell mainly on the aforementioned "Gang of Four".
The well-known Chinese reforms of Deng Xiaoping were based on the implementation of the "policy of four modernizations": in industry, the army, agriculture and science. Its end result was to be the restoration and improvement of the country's economy. A specific feature of the course of this political leader was the willingness to contact the world, as a result of which foreign investors and businessmen began to show interest in the Celestial Empire. It was attractive that the country had a huge cheap labor force: the rural population prevailing there was ready to work for a minimum, but with maximum productivity, in order to feed their families. China also owned a rich resource base, so there was an immediate demand for state resources.
Agricultural sector
First of all, Deng Xiaoping needed to carry out reforms, because the support of the masses was vital for him to consolidate his figure in power. If under Mao Zedong the emphasis was on the development of heavy industry and the military-industrial complex, then the new leader, on the contrary, announced the conversion, the expansion of production in order to restore domestic demand in the country.
People's communes were also abolished, in which people were equal and did not have the opportunity to improve their situation. They were replaced by brigades and households - the so-called family contracts. The advantage of such forms of labor organization was that the new peasant collectives were allowed to keep surplus products, that is, the excess crop could be sold on the emerging market in China and make a profit from it. In addition, freedom was granted in setting prices for agricultural goods. As for the land that the peasants cultivated, it was leased to them, but over time it was declared their property.
Consequences of reforms in agriculture
These innovations contributed to a significant increase in the standard of living in the countryside. In addition, an impetus was given to the development of the market, and the authorities were convinced in practice that personal initiative and material incentives to work are much more productive than the plan. The results of the reforms proved this: in a few years, the amount of grain grown by peasants almost doubled; by 1990, China became the first in the procurement of meat and cotton;
End of international isolation
If we reveal the concept of "openness", it should be understood that Deng Xiaoping was against a sharp transition to active foreign trade. It was planned to smoothly build economic ties with the world, the gradual penetration of the market into the unchanging command and administrative economy of the country. Another feature was that all transformations were first tested in a small region, and if they were successful, they were already introduced at the national level.
So, for example, already in 1978-1979. in the coastal regions of Fujian and Guangdong, SEZs were opened - special economic zones, which are some markets for the sale of products by the local population, business ties were established with investors from abroad. They began to be called "capitalist islands", and their number grew rather slowly, despite the favorable state budget. It was the gradual formation of such zones when building foreign trade that did not allow China to lose the lion's share of raw materials, which could be instantly sold out for a very high price by Chinese standards. Nor was domestic production affected, risking being overwhelmed by imported and cheaper goods. Favorable ties with various countries led to the acquaintance and implementation of modern technologies, machines, factory equipment in production. Many Chinese went to study abroad to gain experience from Western colleagues. A certain economic exchange between China and other countries has taken shape, which satisfies the interests of both sides.
Changes in industry management
As you know, before Deng Xiaoping, whose economic reforms made China a powerful power, was chosen as the unofficial leader of the CPC of China, all enterprises were subject to a plan, strict control by the state. The new country recognized the inefficiency of such a system and expressed the need to update it. For this, a gradual method was proposed. Over time, it was supposed to abandon the planned approach and create a mixed type of management of the country's economy with the predominant participation of the state. As a result, in 1993 plans were reduced to a minimum, state control was reduced, and market relations were gaining momentum. Thus, a "two-track" system of managing the country's economy was formed, which is still in place in China to this day.
Affirmation of the diversity of forms of ownership
In implementing one reform after another to transform China, Deng Xiaoping faced the problem of ownership. The fact is that the change in the organization of housekeeping in the Chinese village allowed newly-made households to earn money, capital grew to start their own business. In addition, foreign businessmen also sought to open branches of their enterprises in China. These factors have led to the formation of collective, municipal, individual, foreign and other forms of ownership.
Interestingly, the authorities did not plan to introduce such diversity. The reason for its appearance lies in the personal initiative of the local population, which has its own savings, to open and expand independently created enterprises. People were not interested in privatizing state property, they wanted to run their own business from the very beginning. The reformers, seeing their potential, decided to formally secure the right of citizens to have private property, to conduct individual entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, foreign capital received the greatest support "from above": foreign investors were provided with a range of various benefits when opening their own business in territory A. As for state-owned enterprises, in order not to let them go bankrupt when such high competition appeared, the plan for them was maintained, but reduced from for years, and they were also guaranteed all sorts of tax deductions, subsidies, profitable loans.
Meaning
It is impossible to deny that Deng Xiaoping, together with like-minded people, did a great job of bringing the country out of a deep economic crisis. Thanks to their reforms, China has a significant weight in the world economy and, as a result, in politics. The country has developed a unique "concept of two-track economic development," competently combining command and control levers and elements of the market. The new communist leaders steadily continue the ideas of Deng Xiaoping. For example, now the state has put forward the goal of building a "society of average prosperity" by 2050 and eliminating inequality.
