The makeover that defined modern China
Forty years ago, Deng Xiaoping launched pragmatic economic reforms that launched the new China we know today.
The “Made In China” label is ubiquitous. We see it on plastic toys, apparel and electronics. Chinese products are fanned out across the world today – on the shelves of American stores and to the homes of Russians. Their footprints are wide and global.
But about four decades ago, this would have been inconceivable. Then, China was poor, reclusive and isolated. Supplies of basic commodities were so tight that ration coupons were distributed. At the time, more than 88 per cent of its population lived on less than US$2 a day.
This all changed when late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping initiated China’s reform and opening up, or gaige kaifang, in 1978. These were a series of economic reforms which opened the country up to foreign investment and the international community.
Today, the drive has cemented China as a major economic player on the global stage. This year marks 40 years since the reform and opening up began.
Before reform
Before 1978, Mao Zedong led a decade of Cultural Revolution, which left behind a broken Chinese economy.
