Socialist market economy

This article is about the specific economic system in the People's Republic of China. For the broader concept of market-based socialism, see Market socialism. For the system in Vietnam, see Socialist-oriented market economy. For the economic model combining free-market capitalism with social policies, see Social market economy.

Socialist market economy
Simplified Chinese社会主义市场经济
Traditional Chinese社會主義市場經濟
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShèhuìzhǔyì Shìchǎng Jīngjì
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The socialist market economy (SME) is the economic system and model of economic development employed in the People's Republic of China. The system is a market economy with the predominance of public ownership and state-owned enterprises.[1] The term "socialist market economy" was introduced by Jiang Zemin during the 14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1992 to describe the goal of China's economic reforms.[2]

Originating in the Chinese economic reforms initiated in 1978 that integrated China into the global market economy, the socialist market economy represents a preliminary or "primary stage" of developing socialism.[3] Some commentators describe the system as a form of "state capitalism",[4] while others describe it as an original evolution of Marxism, in line with Marxism–Leninism similar to the "New Economic Policy" of the Soviet Union, adapted to the cohabitation with a globalized capitalist system.[5]

  1. ^ Ding, Xiaoqin (1 April 2009). "The Socialist Market Economy: China and the World". Science & Society. 73 (2): 235–241. doi:10.1521/siso.2009.73.2.235. JSTOR 40404550.
  2. ^ Vogel, Ezra (2011). Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China. Belknap Press. p. 682. ISBN 978-0-674-72586-7.
  3. ^ "Socialist Market Economic System". Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China. 25 June 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2018. The development of the economic system with public ownership playing a dominant role and diverse forms of ownership developing side by side is a basic characteristic of the socialist economic system at the preliminary stage…The public economy consists not only the state-owned economy and the collective economy, but also the state-owned and collective component in the mixed-ownership economy. The dominant position of the public ownership is represented that: the public assets have a dominant proportion in the overall assets of the society; the state-owned economy controls the lifeline of the national economy and plays a leading role in the economic development, as is from the aspect of the whole country.
  4. ^ Cui, Zhiyuan (2012). "Making Sense of the Chinese 'Socialist Market Economy': A Note". Modern China. 38 (6): 665–676. doi:10.1177/0097700412459700. JSTOR 41702477. S2CID 156702979.
  5. ^ Poulin, Maxence (2 October 2021). "Comparative Analysis of the Economic Structure of the Socialist Market Economy of China and the New Economy Policy". International Critical Thought. 11 (4): 519–534. doi:10.1080/21598282.2021.2007502. ISSN 2159-8282. S2CID 244875301. Our thesis is that the modern Chinese mode of production, since 1990s, follows a logic similar to the Soviet one during the NEP era. In the light of the NEP experience, our research shows that the Chinese development strategy shouldn't be understood as trending towards a neoliberal model. It is rather an original evolution of Marxism, in line with the tradition of Marxism-Leninism, adapted to the cohabitation with a globalized capitalist system.