75 years of the communist revolution in China: the ‘economic miracle’ that turned a poor country into a global superpower

This Tuesday (1st), when 75 years have passed since the triumph of the communists, the country is radically different: it is a world power of the first magnitude and aspires to reach the top of the global economy. 75 years of the communist revolution in China: the ‘economic miracle’ that made a poor country a global superpower EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK via BBC When Mao Tse Tung (or Zedong) came to power in 1949, China was dominated by poverty and devastated by war. This Tuesday (1st), when 75 years have passed since the triumph of the communists, the country is radically different: it is a world power of the first magnitude and aspires to reach the top of the global economy. But his “economic miracle”, unique in history, is not necessarily due to the “Great Helmsman”, but to a campaign driven by another communist leader, Deng Xiaoping. The so-called Reform and Opening policy managed to lift 740 million people out of poverty, according to official data. READ ALSO Argentina: poverty skyrockets and affects 15.7 million people, half the population Copom raises Selic, USA lowers interest rates: what analysts expect from now on Nvidia CEO sees fortune soaring to R$42.8 billion in one day; understand why Under the idea of ​​”socialism with Chinese characteristics”, Deng broke with the status quo and implemented a series of economic reforms, focusing on agriculture, a liberal environment for the private sector, the modernization of industry and the opening of China for foreign trade. This path moved the country away from Mao Tse Tung’s communism and “broke the chains” of the past, in the words of the current Chinese president, Xi Jinping. A poor country The change of direction began in 1978. At the time, China was a very different nation from the one we see today. It was a poor country, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$150 billion and a population of 800 million people. Today, there are 1.4 billion inhabitants and a GDP of US$17 trillion, according to data from the World Bank. Mao, the historic founder of the People’s Republic of China, had died years before Deng’s changes, leaving a controversial legacy. Among his major projects are the Great Leap Forward (1958-62), which sought to transform the country’s agrarian economy and caused a food shortage that led to the deaths of at least 10 million people (independent sources speak of up to 45 million deaths ); and the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), a campaign by Mao against supporters of “capitalism” that also led to millions of deaths and paralyzed the national economy. Deng Xiaoping broke with the path established by the leader of the revolution, Mao (left) Getty Images via BBC It was in this scenario of poverty and hunger that Deng, then general secretary of the Communist Party of China, proposed his reforms. New formula Deng opted for the so-called “four modernizations” and an evolution of the economy in which the market would play an increasing role. For him, it didn’t matter whether the Chinese economic system was communist or capitalist, but whether it worked. “It doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice,” said the Chinese in a speech at the Chinese Communist Youth League conference. Its program was ratified on December 18, 1978 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and made economic modernization its top priority. In the following years, changes were put into practice that until then were considered quite ambitious and faced resistance from the more conservative wing of the ruling party. A common image of Beijing in 1978: Chang’An Avenue taken over by bicycles Getty Images via BBC The agricultural sector, for example, progressively abandoned the Maoist system of planned rural economy, which made it possible to increase productivity and lift regions of the country out of poverty , encouraging the migration of labor to urban areas. Private sector chains also flourished and, for the first time since the creation of the People’s Republic in 1949, the country opened up to foreign investment. If in the planned economy the State determines the type, quantity and price of the goods that will be produced, in the market economy it is the forces of supply and demand that establish what is bought and sold. In his crusade to modernize and grow the economy, the Chinese leader encouraged his team to learn from Western powers. Special economic zones were also created, such as the one in the city of Shenzhen, which underwent an incredible transformation and is now known as the Chinese Silicon Valley. This opening to the outside world contributed to increasing China’s productive capacity and promoting new management methods. After a long process, the changes allowed China to enter the World Trade Organization in 2001, an entry that definitively opened the doors to globalization and catalyzed its economic progress. Thus, in 2008, when the global economic crisis broke out and the West went in search of new markets, China managed to stand out among all the others and became the “factory of the world”. Brazil and China will present a peace plan between Russia and Ukraine to countries at the UN Despite the economic boom, China is now struggling to detach itself from this role: it wants to leave manufacturing behind and become a country known for innovation. As the Asian giant matured, its GDP growth slowed significantly. If in 2007 it was 14.2%, in 2023 this expansion percentage was reduced to 5.2%. But if we look further back, since 1980, the size of the Chinese economy has multiplied by 42. By 2030, economists estimate that the country’s growth will be reduced to approximately one-third of the current percentage. But it would still be enough to overtake the United States as the largest economy in the world. What about political changes? Despite economic progress, the reforms also brought negative consequences for the country, such as high social inequality and serious air contamination in several Chinese cities. However, the rigid one-party government system inaugurated with the revolution remains intact in the country. Critics and activists denounce a growing repression of human rights and an even greater concentration of power around current president Xi Jinping, responsible for further restricting the population’s freedoms. Since he abolished the time limit on his Presidency in 2018, news about discontent with the government has crossed Chinese borders. His critics accuse him of further concentrating power and promoting a personality cult campaign on a level not seen since the days of Mao. The president has also been under the spotlight of the international community due to complaints about systems of massive surveillance of the population, complaints from workers about excessive working hours and detentions of members of the Muslim minority in detention camps in the Xinjiang region. Xi Jinping is considered the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Getty Images via BBC On the 40th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s Reform and Opening Up, in December 2018, the Chinese leader emphasized the importance of the Chinese Communist Party’s “leadership” in his speech at the Great Palace of the People in Tiananmen, a square in Beijing where the Army violently repressed demonstrations in favor of political reforms, leaving an unknown number of dead. This dark chapter in China’s recent history remains taboo, like any criticism of the Chinese political system.



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