For most of its 3,500 years of history, China has been plagued with major famines, civil disturbances, and foreign occupation. To add to these unrest's, the traditional Chinese economy was primarily rural and hundreds of millions of people were forced to coexist under this scarce subsistence. Prior to the socialist rule in 1949, China's rural economy exper

Mao Zedong felt that he could no longer depend on the party's support. Convinced that the party had been permeated with corrupt "capitalists", Mao turned to middle school and college students for political demonstrations. These demonstrators came to be known as "Red Guards" and millions of them were encouraged by the fervor of the Cultural Revolution to become a unified force that would criticize the communist party's administration and it's "ideologies". The activities of the "Red Guards" were a reflection of Mao's efforts to rekindle traditional revolutionary policies and destroy "counter-revolutionary" values. Many people saw Mao's tactics as a result of the humiliation he had suffered after the failure of his "Great Leap Forward" campaign. By initiating the Cultural Revolution, he attempted to regain his former status. Although Mao Zedong blamed China's ill's on the "closet capitalists" who were supposedly hiding within the communist party, many also argued that the !

The emphasis after 1969 was on reconstruction and rebuilding of the party and economic stabilization. But again, this was not without opposition from numerous radical groups. Mao Zedong's failing health was also a sign that the government was in need for a change. Many differences persisted among the military, the communist party and different radical groups over a wide range of issues. Mao's failing health gradually led to the rise of Deng Xiaoping who was reinstated as vice premier in April 1973. In 1975, Deng Xiaoping's position was solidified when he was later elected as vice chairman of the communist party. But this imbalance of power was unsatisfactory to Deng who wanted genuine party reform and reorganization of the bureaucracy. Reinstatement of Deng Xiaoping's administration drew support upon Mao Zedong's death in 1976. In yet another major reshuffling of political appointments, Deng Xiaoping returned as leader of the Republic. "Deng had been the number-two pu!

terized as the country's "transition to socialism". And it corresponded to China's implementation of the "Five Year Plan".

In 1949, the remaining "forces" of the Nationalist government fled to Taiwan. With this ousting as their final victory, the communist People's Republic of China was formally established on October 1st, 1949.

President Deng Xiaoping initiated capitalist changes in 1979 when he legalized farmer's markets. The regime had established farm collectivization in the rural sector in which farm families had "collective chores" to abide by on state-owned land. This system had created such an awkward anarchy that farm families began bribing their way out of their civil responsibilities with local officials. The head of a family would promise to fulfill the production quota and gave the cadres some of the surplus. This scheme allowed peasant households to put in extra hours on the fields and sell the excess on the black market. When Deng Xiaoping legalized farmer's markets, which was primarily initiated by him being informed of the black market scheme, households were now legally able to produce a surplus and sell on the market at market price. "As organized communal labour on open fields came to an end, the land was put to more appropriate use, individual farmers were given the right to!

The onset of a communist regime in 1949 brought with it remarkable structural changes to China's economy. The profound economic reforms that took place in China have been moving the country towards a market-oriented economy. But these reforms and transformations were not initially as impressive. The initial goals of the new government were based on high ideals that are common to revolutionary movements. The new communist leadership set out to improve the standard of living for those formerly held back by the upper classes. They also set out to increase equality between the sexes and improve the country's social infrastructure. But due in part to unsuited public

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Approximate Word count = 3315
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)