1978 CE and afterward / East Asia
Reform and Opening Up and Changes to the Economic System
The Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee marked an important policy shift; rural reforms, special economic zones, and gradual marketization changed production, population mobility, and international connections.
The story
In 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China marked an important turning point in reform and opening up. Reforms gradually expanded from the household responsibility system in rural areas and township and village enterprises into prices, enterprises, public finances, foreign trade, and other areas. The first special economic zones were established in 1980, and reforms advanced further after Deng Xiaoping's southern tour talks in 1992. This was a process of experimentation, adjustment, and debate over many years, rather than a transformation completed by a single meeting. As incomes and living standards rose, regional disparities, population migration, and problems involving employment and social protection during the transition also persisted. Beijing represents the policy shift on the map, rather than all the locations where reforms were carried out.
Elsewhere in the world
China's participation in international trade and investment gradually deepened, interacting with East Asian industrial networks and changes in the global division of economic activity.
Dates and precision
1978 CE and afterward Observation point
A representative year used to observe long-term change, rather than its complete beginning or end.
Representative map location
Beijing
Beijing represents the policy shift at the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee; reform efforts were not confined to Beijing.
Representative coordinates · 39.914°, 116.394°
Coordinates locate a representative point for the story. They do not mean the event happened only here and do not represent historical borders.
Bibliography
- National Development and Reform Commission | The Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee
- Cyberspace Administration of China (compiled by the Institute of Party History and Literature, published by Xinhua) | Chronicle of Forty Years of Reform and Opening Up
- Fujian Provincial Bureau of Statistics | A New Chapter in Xiamen’s Economic and Social Development
- World Bank | Reflections on Forty Years of China's Reforms
Sources are listed as bibliography titles, without external links. A reference does not mean every sentence or interpretation has been independently verified.