Market Economy and the Intellectuals

Abstract

In the post-Mao era, the Chinese leadership has made great strides in maximizing economic growth to improve the living conditions of the people. Promoting economic advancement by ‘opening to the world economy’ through an export-oriented strategy and simultaneously developing a market economy, the Communist Party of China (CCP) has begun to accomplish its goal to transform China into a region bearing the characteristics of a middle-income country in terms of social and economic indicators (Cheng and Stewart, 1995; Zhu, 1998). Against such a socioeconomic background in which economic activities are given priority, waves of people have begun to venture into the commercial and business world (xiahai).