Deng Xiaoping and Neoliberalism with Chinese Characteristics 1978

Following the disastrous chaos and violence of the cultural revolution, Deng Xiaoping, one of Maoist China's inveterate survivors and a hate figure for Mao himself, began a series of changes of global significance in 1978. Deng's four modernisations (agriculture, industry, education, science and defence), and the policy of opening up China to foreign investment were the product of two fears. Firstly, that a disorderly, anarchic China would eventually see the collapse of party rule, and secondly, that South East Asian capitalism in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, would eclipse China and leave the country in a highly vulnerable state. Deng's reforms were an integral component in the creation of late 20th and early 21st Century capitalism, bringing hundred of millions of workers into a global economy that saw free market transitions in both the east and the west.

More from Explaining History

  1. 31:38Black Britain 1948-89: Economic drivers of migrationApr 17, 2024
  2. 33:13Infiltrating the IRA: Terror and Espionage in Northern IrelandApr 08, 2024
  3. 34:42IRA double agents - Terror and espionage with Henry HemmingApr 06, 2024
  4. 33:27A timeline of everything - In conversation with Bruce TappingApr 04, 2024
  5. 34:24Mexico, America and NAFTA 1994-1995Mar 20, 2024
  6. 00:41Neoliberalism VS National Liberation Movements 1945-79Mar 08, 2024
  7. 42:21World War Two: The Good War?Feb 23, 2024
  8. 30:23Socialism and Fascism - what they are and are notFeb 14, 2024
  9. 31:47Resistance from the right: America's campus backlash against the counter cultureFeb 02, 2024
  10. 36:06Wilson, Jenkins and austerity 1968-70Jan 26, 2024