LETTERS OF TRANSMITTAL To the Members of the Joint Economic Committee: OCTOBER 31, 1978. Transmitted herewith for use by the Joint Economic Committee, the Congress, and the interested public is a survey and analytical study of the economy of the People's Republic of China entitled "Chinese Economy Post-Mao." This is a compilation of invited papers designed to meet the interests of the committee and the Congress in an up-to-date body of factual data and interpretative comment on the state of the domestic economy of China, including the record of its recent experience in economic development and its relations with the outside world. Early in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution the Joint Economic Committee released a pioneering, two volume assessment entitled "An Economic Profile of Mainland China" (1967). As the People's Republic of China began to relate more with the world community through its membership in the United Nations and in opening relations with the United States it seemed appropriate to supplement the earlier study by an updated volume that also reflected these changing relations of China with the outside world. Therefore the "People's Republic of China: An Economic Assessment" was released by the committee in 1972. In the wake of U.S. withdrawal from Indochina, it was especially timely that we review all aspects of our policy with the People's Republic of China. Many Members were fortunate enough to travel to China and talk with the Chinese leaders first hand. The comprehensive volume released in 1975, "China: An Economic Reassessment" proved highly useful in those meetings. With the deaths of Mao Tse-Tung and Chou En-lai, two giants of the Chinese Communist revolution left the scene. The new leaders Hua Kuo-feng and Teng Hsiao-ping initiated a new period of Chinese economic policy and development. China, the largest nation in the world, is a major factor in world stability. Certainly, the Chinese economy is a subject of primary concern, and we have an obvious and compelling need of knowledge on the subject. This extensive compilation was organized in the hope that it will serve this need. It covers all of the major aspects of the Chinese economy and should provide a valuable source book for further committee studies on the subject, use by other committees and Members in trips and studies, for other government agencies and the general public. Our earlier volumes provided a factual basis for better understanding of the economy of China. We hope this volume will not only update these earlier efforts, but provide a current reassessment. The sources |