This month marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of late State leader Deng Xiaoping, who is also depicted as the chief architect of China’s reform and opening-up policy.
Deng has long been regarded as one of the reform pioneers, opening up China’s economy to the world and paving the way for the country to achieve economic miracles. Highlighting socialism with Chinese characteristics, Deng accentuated that China has to adhere to its own path for development, aligning it with the nation’s needs and actual conditions. On Hong Kong’s development, Deng came up with the innovative idea of “one country, two systems”, which allows Hong Kong’s way of life to remain intact for at least 50 years. All these initiatives have boosted China’s economic growth, enhanced people’s livelihoods, and elevated the country’s status on the global stage. In his lifetime, Deng’s pragmatic leadership and profound wisdom earned him a reputation in China and around the world.
Deng, who was born in Sichuan province in August 1904, spent about five years studying and working in France in his youth in the 1920s. He then spent about one year studying in Moscow before he was asked by the Communist Party of China to return to China to become a leading cadre. Deng joined the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the War of Liberation (1946-49). With ups and downs in his political life, Deng developed the traits of being a State leader with strategic governance, visions and pragmatism.
Under Deng’s watch, which started in the late 1970s, China rolled out the reform and opening-up policy in various aspects, marking a milestone of the country’s rapid development in a new era. The third plenum of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC announced in December 1978 that China was to kick off the reform and opening-up. Since then, China has undertaken a series of reforms from rural to urban areas, and from establishing special economic zones to opening port cities. The momentous reforms included launching rural policies to encourage farmers to increase agricultural production; easing restrictions on State-owned enterprises on management; and attracting capital, technology and investment from Hong Kong and foreign countries. In 1980, China started establishing four special economic zones in Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou in Guangdong province, and Xiamen in Fujian. Shenzhen was the first to launch such a zone, and more coastal port cities have been opened since then. At the same time, Deng raised the concept of “socialism with Chinese characteristics” in 1982. China’s economic system has gradually evolved from a planned economy to a socialist market economy. Today, China has become the world’s second-largest economy after more than 40 years of reforms and opening-up. According to the World Bank’s latest finding into the state of the global economy in May, China is the world’s largest economy based on purchasing power parity. In the third plenum of the 20th CPC Central Committee held last month, the Central Committee adopted a resolution on deepening reforms on various fronts, including fostering high-quality development and pursuing high-standard opening-up, among others. Based on the National Bureau of Statistics data, China’s gross domestic product has significantly surged, from about 367 billion yuan ($51.5 billion) in 1978 to over 126 trillion yuan in 2023, a staggering 340-fold growth. China’s achievements and its contribution to global economic growth have been recognized around the world.
In addition, Deng set his vision of building a Xiaokang society, which literally means a status of moderate prosperity, striving to enhance Chinese people’s living standards in the early years of reform and opening-up. After taking the helm of China, Deng initiated the rural household contract responsibility system, which became the trigger that set China on its road to its economic rise. Farmers gained more incentives to increase agricultural production, and their livelihoods improved. Nowadays, China has initiated various reforms to improve farmers’ livelihoods and already eradicated extreme poverty throughout the country. At present, the central government has adopted a targeted strategy to lift poor people out of poverty. For instance, poverty eradication measures have included construction of more infrastructure facilities to boost economic development and employment opportunities in poor regions and provision of education for children and young people and healthcare services for the elderly in poor areas. Based on the National Bureau of Statistics data, China’s GDP per capita has surged from about 381 yuan in 1978 to over 89,300 yuan in 2023.
On the diplomacy front, Deng realized that it was in China’s best interests to develop stable and peaceful relationships with countries, including the United States and the then-Soviet Union. In the 1970s and 1980s, the US and the Soviet Union stepped up their rivalry for global dominance during the Cold War. Deng accentuated that China would not seek hegemony, when he delivered a speech in the United Nations General Assembly in April 1974. He stressed that China has been dedicated to supporting other countries in their efforts to defend national sovereignty and develop their respective economies. Having upheld peaceful diplomacy, the Chinese government successfully maintained its economic development without being sidetracked, and that boosted the country to reach a new level of development. About a half-century since Deng’s speech in the UN, China has played a more significant role on the global stage to foster cooperation with more countries around the world under various initiatives, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for peace talks in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Palestine-Israeli conflict.
Meanwhile, Deng mapped out an unprecedented innovation — the “one country, two systems” framework for Hong Kong’s reunification with its motherland, serving as the solid institutional arrangement to guarantee the continuity of the city’s capitalist, social and legal systems. The principle was originally proposed for Taiwan’s peaceful reunification with the mainland. Although the principle of “one country, two systems” had not been implemented anywhere before, Deng expressed confidence that the principle would ensure Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity in the long term. He highlighted that the principle is a very important part of socialism with Chinese characteristics. About 27 years after the reunification, Hong Kong has retained its status as a prominent international financial center with an open and capitalist economy, common law system, and simple taxation regime, and other features. As stressed by President Xi Jinping in his speech delivered on the special administrative region’s establishment anniversary on July 1, 2022, the principle of “one country, two systems” has proved to be a good arrangement, so there is no reason for the central government to change such a good policy, and it will be implemented in the long run.
Hong Kong has gained significant economic benefits from the country’s reform and opening-up in the past several decades. Hong Kong entrepreneurs were the first to invest in the mainland, establishing manufacturing production plants and other businesses on the mainland. The country’s reform has also provided enormous opportunities for Hong Kong. The HKSAR can actively dovetail with national strategies such as the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and forge closer trading and investment ties with ASEAN members and other overseas countries. According to the latest World Investment Report 2024 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Hong Kong’s foreign direct investment inflow amounted to $113 billion in 2023, becoming the fourth-largest foreign direct investment recipient in the world.
Deng is one of the greatest reformers in the history of China and the world. The path China has taken in its reform and opening-up as well as modernization is fundamentally distinct from that of the rise of Western countries. China has achieved admirable socioeconomic development through reform and opening-up, and will further deepen reform comprehensively and stay on the path of peace to inject vitality and an impetus for global growth and development.
The author is a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and founder and chairman of the One Country Two Systems Youth Forum.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
