【China's Modern Economy】Why is the Modern?
【China's Modern Economy】20160901
Why is the Modern
Summary of latest session
Today's session finished the first chpater and start to discuss the second chapter.
Other that the brief introduction of the topic we will dissuss this semester, the most important thing we have to understand is the meaning of "modern". Why dose the course use the concept of Modern Economy as the main topic? We have to put the Modern or Four Modernization (development strategy in the beginning of economic reform since 1978) behind the unique background. The mojor background is China just happened to experience a disaster in terms of econmoy. Since 1966 the Party launched a great policital movement, called as Culure Revolution, which was targeting to the cleanness of spririt defined as Mao zedong. The whole country had to remake the belief from old various one to the standard one, named communist or socialist ideaology interpreted by Mao. The economic result of the culture revolution was stopping the economic development suddenly, along with some terrible economic development policy, such as emplementing the strict planed economic institutions. The wrong policy and direction made China's economy slow down and almost collapse finally in 1976. Such economic disaster actually was also the main reason why the new leadership led by Deng Xiaoping was anxious to promote the new round economic reform for the people won't suffer the economic loss anymore. It is to satify the strong desire of stepping out of economic swamp and then the Modernization become a clear signal of changing the key target refering to the Party. The modernization represented the chanllenge and the resolution faced by China that time.
The second session discussed mainly the relation between geographic setting and economic performance. I emphasis the two contributions of geographic setting to economic performance. One is the resource effect of geographic setting, which could bring the economy necessary natural resources, such as the water, the energy and even the clean air, etc. Another is the spatial effect of geographic setting, which means the right allcation of country or city could take advante of the spactial position to promote the economic development, such as Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.
Next session will continue talking about the geographic setting and the related administrative system in China.
Author: Li Zhiqing, School of Economics, Fudan University
Date: September 12, 2016