The early history of communism in China started when the Chinese Communist Party, headed by politician and theorist Mao Zedong, overthrew the Republic of China in 1949. The political party subsequently proclaimed the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Nonetheless, after the dynastic eras that lasted for thousands of years, China entered modern history with communism at the center of its sociopolitical structure.
An important aspect of the initial years of Chinese communism was the launching of two critical sociopolitical movements aimed at purging capitalism, bureaucracy, and elitism from the country. These were The Great Leap Forward, which lasted from 1958 to 1961, and the Cultural Revolution, which spanned between 1966 and 1976. Both initiatives ended in failure.
Nevertheless, to recover from its previous setbacks, the Chinese government initiated an economic reform that opened its economy to international trade and investments beginning in 1979. China has experienced a sustained period of economic development and improvements in standards of living since then. It demonstrated the successful implementation of a social market economy that combines free market capitalism and socialism.
Chinese Communist Party: The Role of Sinocentrism in Promoting Communism in China
The emergence of communism in China during the 1920s marked a renewed attempt to promote the principles of Sinocentrism. This is an ancient notion that sees the Chinese people at the center of the world. Hence, when the CCP was founded in 1921, Mao wanted China to be at the forefront of a global effort of promoting socialism and challenging capitalism.
Central to its own brand of communism was a sentiment against foreign influences. In “The Mind of Empire,” international relations and strategic studies professor Christopher Ford explained that the Chinese had always strived to protect themselves from the exploitative nature of foreigners. The construction of The Great Wall was a testament to this fact.
The CCP had initial success in advancing the Chinese economy despite its isolation from the rest of the world. Economist Warren Bruce Palmer mentioned that China was the largest economy in the world during the 18th century. Its domestic output accounted for a quarter of the overall global output. The Industrial Revolution in the West changed the landscape.
Countries in Europe and the United States outcompeted China in terms of economic output. One of the main problems of China was that it failed to adopt advances that emerged from the Industrial Revolution and afforded the West a competitive advantage. These include machineries, better manufacturing technologies and processes, and technical competencies.
The Chinese socioeconomic landscape was also in crisis. Political squabbles and inferior economic policies crippled leadership and governance. Concerns over foreign invasions disrupted internal stability further. Hundreds of millions of Chinese lived in poverty. The international community dubbed China the “Poor Man of Asia” during the 20th century.
However, when the CCP took over, China experienced the most efficient governance since the last century. The economy took off with the implementation of the first Five-Year Plan which spanned between 1953 and 1957. There were achievements that marked progress. These include a decrease in the death rate, a reduction of hunger incidence, and better quality of life.
A Russian-inspired development strategy also made the country one of the main global industrial powers. This was the Soviet model of industrialization that the Chinese government adopted in the 1950s and it included large-scale industrial facilities built with Soviet assistance. The CCP laid down the structures and mechanisms needed to overhaul China.
The Great Leap Forward: A Failure in the Early History of Communism in China
Mao wanted to transform China into an economic powerhouse that would rival Western countries and he intended to do this through a rapid transition from an agrarian economy to an industrialized and centrally-planned economy. Hence, following the first Five-Year Plan, he introduced the social and political movement called The Great Leap Forward in 1958.
The initial goal of the movement was to transform the country within 15 years. It was ambitious and the CCP thought it was doable. However, from 1958 to 1961, the results were disastrous. The documentary series “China: A Century of Revolution” directed by Sue Williams narrated and explained the events that transpired during these transformative years.
Individual Chinese workers were mobilized round-the-clock. The workforce was working under the pretext of communism. This means working not for individual economic gains but for the entire collective. Competition ceased to exist. Individuals gave up their possessions and ownership after the CCP assumed universal ownership of anything that had economic value.
Mobilizing an entire country was tough. The government abolished family life and replaced it with group settlements called communes. Each commune represents an economic unit. People centered their lives on working for their respective communes. There was an initial enthusiasm and a sense of nationality. China also became productive at the macroeconomic level.
However, as life became more controlled and since gains from their labor were inaccessible, the people became frustrated. Note that the Chinese were not disappointed because they were trapped in a commune or were forced to provide labor for a collective purpose. Their disillusionment stemmed from a perceived lack of progress at the microeconmic level.
The people did not find satisfaction in their products or the output of their labor. It is important to underscore that the communes were producing substandard products using antiquated techniques. It is true that there was a large and mobilized workforce but the people lacked the technologies and competencies needed to produce high-quality production outputs.
China essentially became an economy that produced low-quality industrial outputs and agricultural products. A series of backlashes emerged. This culminated in a catastrophic famine that afflicted millions of Chinese. Estimates of deaths from starvation, disease, and violence range from 15 to 55 million people. This was one of the deadliest famines in human history.
The Cultural Revolution: Struggles in the Early History of Communism in China
Mao set in motion another sociopolitical movement called the Cultural Revolution. It spanned between 1966 and 1976. His central intention was to promote and preserve what he deemed as true communist ideologies by removing other contradicting ideologies. This also includes eradicating old ideas, unaligned cultures, and outdated customs and habits.
The CCP also believed that there were bourgeois elements that were trying to restore capitalism by penetrating the government and social institutions. Pragmatic leaders like Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping took the lead in economic recovery after the failures of The Great Leap Forward. Mao launched a crusade against this perceived threats to communism.
It is also worth noting that the Cultural Revolution formalized the prevalence of class struggle in Chinese society. Mao believed that this struggle must continue even after the establishment of socialism. He saw the Cultural Revolution as a means to prevent the emergence of a new bourgeois class within CPP and society to ensure a continuous revolution.
There was also the growing influence of personality cult. To be specific, aside from the members and officials of the Chinese Communist Party, several members of the armed forces and uniformed personnel, the working class, and the younger population partake in efforts aimed at attacking people who maintained and promoted ideologies that opposed communism.
A social and political disaster later emerged from the sociopolitical movement. This stunned the entire Chinese economy. Remember that China was still reeling from the effects of The Great Leap Forward. The Cultural Revolution later plunged the country and its people into a decade of chaos from 1966 to 1976. Violence became rampant and was damaging.
Members of the cultural revolutionaries harassed millions of people through imprisonments, public humiliation, seizure of properties, torture, and forced disappearance. Public officials found guilty of promoting anti-communism ideologies or criticizing Mao were uprooted. Historical documents and relics, cultural artifacts, and religious items were destroyed.
The Cultural Revolution was damaging. It marked another critical turning point in the early history of communism in China. Mao ended the movement in 1969 but activities pervaded until his death in 1976. The CCP later declared in 1981 that the Cultural Revolution was behind the most severe setback and heaviest losses suffered by the People’s Republic of China.
1979 Economic Reform and Sustained Economic Progress: Modifications in the Chinese Brand of Communism
A report submitted to the U.S. Congressional Research Service by Wayne M. Morrison, a specialist in Asian trade and finance, explained that an economic reform took place in China in 1979 under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping. This revolved around opening the economy to international trade and foreign investments and adopting elements of a market economic system.
China began to dismantle the rigid structure of its Soviet-inspired centrally planned economy and introduced several market-oriented economic policies. This was a direct response to the economic stagnation and widespread poverty caused by the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The reform laid the foundation for the future prospects of the Chinese economy.
Farmers were given price and ownership incentives that allowed them to sell their products on the free market. Economic zones were established to promote specialization. Open cities and free ports served as trading and commercial centers. Newer technologies were introduced to improve the production processes. The government encouraged entrepreneurship.
The removal and easing of several trade barriers compelled Chinese businesses to up their game and become more competitive. The arrival of imported products in China left these enterprises with no choice but to improve the quality of their products to compete both in the domestic and global markets. International trade made China more productive.
Nevertheless, considering the catastrophic setbacks in the past, the economic growth of China was considered both commendable and unprecedented. The gross domestic product of the country from 1978 to 2005 grew by an average of 10 percent. It succeeded in removing millions of people out of poverty within a short period. China also became a manufacturing hub.
Most would contend that communism in China had ended following its market-oriented economic reforms. It is still important to underscore the fact that the Chinese economy is a hybrid between socialist and market economic systems. This is because the government still exerts some level of control similar to a command economy while promoting capitalism.
It is also worth mentioning that the Chinese government maintains absolute control across several facets of social and political life. These include religion, access to media, and political redress. The country remains an authoritarian single-party state where the CCP holds an uncontestable power and influence. Even private enterprises are at the helm of the government.
FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES
- Chen, T. and Kung, J. K. S. 2020. “The Rise of Communism in China.” SSRN Electronic Journal. DOI: 2139/ssrn.3748521
- Ford, C. A. 2015. The Mind of Empire: China’s History and Modern Foreign Relations. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN: 978-0813165431
- LaFleur, R. A., Palmer, W. B., and Rapp, J. A. 2003. China: A Global Studies Handbook. ABC-CLIO. ISBN: 978-1576072844
- Williams, S. 1989. China: A Century of Revolution. Ambrica Productions. Available online
- Yang, G. 2022. “The Communist Party of China and the Chinese Road to Modernization.” Economic and Political Studies. 10(1): 1-8. DOI: 1080/20954816.2022.2028994