Shifting Values

Abstract

Economic liberalization is a welcome relief for most Chinese. The logic of the market economy requires individual initiatives for innovation and creativity. With China’s increasingly market-oriented economy, many aspects of Chinese society have been far more liberalized than ever before. Many institutions underpinning state control have been considerably weakened: as discussed in earlier chapters, household registration and the personnel dossier system have loosened up. People are no longer fully dependent for their livelihoods on the danwei and the rationing system marked by ‘numerical existence’ has disappeared. Along with the crumbling of the institutional basis of totalitarianism, the country’s decentralization has given unprecedented autonomy to firms, local governments, and rural and urban residents. Increasing reliance on economic incentives and market forces have created autonomous interests of social groups and diverse values. The vigorous growth of the non-state sector has provided new ways to circumvent administrative restrictions, and China’s exposure to the outside world has brought in new ideas and cultures.