late 1978 the Chinese leadership has been trying to move the
economy from the sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more
productive and flexible economy with market elements, but still within the
framework of monolithic Communist control. To this end the authorities have
switched to a system of household responsibility in agriculture in place of
the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and
plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale
enterprise in services and light manufacturing, and opened the foreign
economic sector to increased trade and joint ventures. The most gratifying
result has been a strong spurt in production, particularly in agriculture in
the early 1980s. Industry also has posted major gains, especially in coastal
areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment and
modern production methods have helped spur production of both domestic and
export goods. Aggregate output has more than doubled since 1978. On the
darker side, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the
worst results of socialism (bureaucracy, lassitude, corruption) and of
capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation). Beijing thus has
periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals and
thereby lessening the credibility of the reform process. In 1991, and again
in 1992, output rose substantially, particularly in the favored coastal
areas. Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority
by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is
essential to the nation's long-term economic viability.
National product: GNP $NA
National product real growth rate:
12.8% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
$NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.4% (1992)
Unemployment rate:
2.3% in urban areas (1992)
Budget:
deficit $16.3 billion (1992)
Exports:
$85.0 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities:
textiles, garments, telecommunications and recording equipment, petroleum,
minerals
partners:
Hong Kong and Macau, Japan, US, Germany, South Korea, Russia (1992)
Imports:
$80.6 billion (c.i.f., 1992)
commodities:
specialized industrial machinery, chemicals, manufactured goods, steel,
textile yarn, fertilizer
partners:
Hong Kong and Macau, Japan, US, Taiwan, Germany, Russia (1992)
External debt:
$69.3 billion (