Soft and Hard Reforms

Abstract

There has been a dynamic interaction, not always harmonious, between the goals of development and transition and between their associated reforms. Chinese reformers have demonstrated a tendency to prefer, in most cases, what can be called ‘soft reforms’ that produce quick and tangible growth and meet less resistance. They also tend to defer what can be called ‘hard reforms’ that may cut deep into the old system, encounter greater resistance and may cause a fall, even transitory, in development. But inspired by the implicit objective of transition, they have also endeavoured to make hard reforms gradually acceptable through, for instance, the dual-track approach or through pilot projects. China’s initial reforms serve to illustrate this point.