The Centenary of the CPC: Evolving Economic Development Thought for New China

Hong Yinxing (洪银兴)*

Yangtze River Delta Economics and Social Development Research Center, School of Economics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

Abstract: After the founding of People’s Republic of China in 1949, the economic development philosophies of the Communist Party of China (CPC) evolved over time. Review of this difficult journey of ideological change can not only shed light on the origin, but also better understand the theoretical contributions of Xi Jinping thought on China’s socialist economy in the new era. This paper investigates China’s evolving economic development thoughts from six dimensions in three eras when the Chinese nation (i) independently established a basic industrial system from a blank sheet, (ii) sought prosperity through reform and opening up, and (iii) increased national strength. The six dimensions of this study include: (i) the tasks identified by the Party as essential for various stages of development; (ii) the different modes of economic development embraced based on development thoughts for various stages; (iii) the different modernization pathways to achieve the goals of socialist modernization; (iv) the adjustment of agricultural policy and development paths to close the urban-rural divide; (v) the different approaches for regulating the supply side and demand side of economic development with the emphasis changing across various stages; and (vi) the different emphasis to internal and external economic circulations across various stages.

Keywords: New China, the Communist Party of China, economic development thoughts, evolution

JEL Classification Code: E11, E60, E26

DOI: 10.19602/j.chinaeconomist.2021.11.03