Political Reform

Abstract

The Chinese experience since 1978 is often described as a model of economic reform without political reform. But large-scale economic liberalization in a communist country inevitably entails significant political change. It would be more accurate to describe the Chinese experience as that of major economic reforms accompanied by lesser political reforms. Although there has been no systemic transformation, Chinese reformers have pursued a significant number of political reform initiatives, most of which are either attempts to react to the changes brought about by economic reforms or to overcome political barriers to economic reforms.