Many serious writings in Chinese journals during the last two years have started characterizing the emerging political economy in China as ‘Market Socialism’. This new formulation refers to a system where there is planned economic development but it is at the same time responsive to the market; the principle of distribution is ‘each according to his work’, but interpreted as adequately giving material incentives for higher labour productivity; and while public ownership remains predominant, diverse forms including cooperative, individual and joint forms of ownership would be promoted. In the early years of post-Mao reforms from 1979 till about 1982 when the Twelfth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) was held some of these ideas were thrown up in course of their criticisms against the policies of the preceding period. Maoist political economy was accused of ignoring what ideologue Hu Qiaomu called ‘Economic Laws’ relating to the operation of commodity economy.
Sept-Oct 1988, volume 12, No 5