|
China The Post-Mao Interlude, 1976-78
After the fall of the Gang of Four, the leadership under Hua
Guofeng--and by July 1977 the rehabilitated Deng Xiaoping--
reaffirmed the modernization program espoused by Zhou Enlai in
1975. They also set forth a battery of new policies for the purpose
of accomplishing the Four Modernizations. The new policies
strengthened the authority of managers and economic decision makers
at the expense of party officials, stressed material incentives for
workers, and called for expansion of the research and education
systems
(see The Post-Mao Period, 1976-78
, ch. 1). Foreign trade
was to be increased, and exchanges of students and "foreign
experts" with developed countries were to be encouraged. This new
policy initiative was capped at the Fifth National People's
Congress in February and March 1978, when Hua Guofeng presented the
draft of an ambitious ten-year plan for the 1976-85 period. The
plan called for high rates of growth in both industry and
agriculture and included 120 construction projects that would
require massive and expensive imports of foreign technology.
Between 1976 and 1978, the economy quickly recovered from the
stagnation of the Cultural Revolution. Agricultural production was
sluggish in 1977 because of a third consecutive year of adverse
weather conditions but rebounded with a record harvest in 1978.
Industrial output jumped 14 percent in 1977 and increased by 13
percent in 1978.
Data as of July 1987
|
