China’s rural supply cooperatives should involve government-backed private firms, former official says
- Amid worries that China is heading down another planned-economy path, son of the late General Secretary Hu Yaobang weighs in with a pro-market perspective
- An ardent supporter of China’s opening up and market economy, Hu Deping says that a government-controlled rural cooperative economy must be avoided
Amid a cacophony of concerns that Beijing’s pursuit of a bigger state role could put China on a path toward a new planned-economy era, a normally quiet former politician has joined the chorus calling for private players and market forces to advance national development strategies.
Hu Deping, the eldest son of late Communist Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang, said supply cooperatives play a vital role in the development of China’s rural areas as part of its common-prosperity push, but he contends that the best model should involve private entities with government assistance.
His comments appeared last week in the monthly publication of the Chinese Private Technology Entrepreneur Association.
His father was known for helping to clean up the mess of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution as head of the Organisation Department of the Communist Party, liberating tens of thousands of cadres who had been wronged during the period. He then served as general secretary under paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, promoting reform and opening up before eventually being dismissed in 1987.
The 80-year-old Hu Deping, a former vice-chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and deputy director of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, is widely seen as an ardent supporter of the country’s opening up and market economy, as well as an influential liberal thinker.
Known for being outspoken in the past, Hu turned relatively quiet in recent years.
What we need to avoid the most is the government-controlled rural cooperative economy
