JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE RICHARD BOLLING, Missouri, Chairman HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HENRY S. REUSS, Wisconsin WILLIAM S. MOORHEAD, Pennsylvania LEE H. HAMILTON, Indiana GILLIS W. LONG, Louisiana PARREN J. MITCHELL, Maryland MARGARET M. HECKLER, Massachusetts LLOYD C. ATKINSON WILLIAM R. BUECHNER THOMAS F. DERNBURG SENATE JOHN SPARKMAN, Alabama EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts WILLIAM V. ROTH, JR., Delaware JAMES A. MCCLURE, Idaho JOHN R. STARK, Executive Director LOUIS C. KRAUTHOFF II, Assistant Director RICHARD F. KAUFMAN, Assistant Director-General Counsel WILLIAM D. MORGAN ROBERT H. ATEN MINORITY CHARLES H. BRADFORD, Counsel MARK R. POLICINSKI (II) STEPHEN J. ENTIN 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 of information on China are still limited but better than during the earlier studies. It is hoped that this volume, drawing on research at universities, research institutions and in the Federal Government, will serve as an aid and a stimulus to all scholars working on this subject. The committee is deeply indebted to the scholars from Government and academia who gave so generously of their time and expertise to the committee. They are listed in the executive director's memorandum to me, and I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the committee to express our gratitude for their invaluable efforts without which this study would not have been possible. Finally, we wish to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the Congressional Research Service for making available the services of John P. Hardt, who helped to plan the scope of the research and coordinated the contributions for the present study, with assistance from Ronda Bresnick. It is understood that the views contained in this study are not necessarily those of the Joint Economic Committee nor of individual members. RICHARD BOLLING, Chairman, Joint Economic Committee. OCTOBER 24, 1978. Hon. RICHARD BOLLING, Chairman, Joint Economic Committee, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Transmitted herewith is a volume of materials on the economy of the People's Republic of China entitled "Chinese Economy Post-Mao." The study has been prepared in the form of a symposium containing a series of selected papers contributed by invited specialists who are recognized authorities on China. The specialists in question have been drawn from the ranks of the universities here and abroad, private research institutions and the several departments of the Federal Government and the Library of Congress. The papers they have submitted, in response to our request, cover a broad range of topics dealing with the recent performance of Chinese economy. Included are economic policy, the defense burden, agriculture, transportation, industry, population, the environment, technology transfer, international trade, financing, and foreign trade. The Joint Economic Committee undertook an earlier study, the two-volume "Economic Profile of Mainland China," to provide a basic body of information on the economy of Communist China. In 1972 the committee released a compendium entitled "People's Republic of China: An Economic Assessment." This was followed in 1975 with "China: An Economic Reassessment." The current study is intended to supplement the earlier studies by a presentation of information and analysis that has become available to the various Government agencies during the last several years. It is hoped, furthermore, that the facts and ideas presented in this survey of available information will help to shed light on the alternatives facing the United States in ordering our relations with the People's Republic of China within the foreseeable future. The shape of these relations is certain to be significant both for the internal development of China and critical to the issue of war and peace in the world. The contributors to the study have been most considerate of our needs and generous in giving of their time and expertise to provide not only basic information but indispensable analytical perspective on this important subject. The individual scholars who have participated in the preparation of the present study are: William B. Abnett Arthur G. Ashbrook, Jr. Richard E. Batsavage Nai-Ruenn Chen William Clarke Gordon Cole Jack Craig John L. Davie Robert F. Dernberger Hedija H. Kravalis Nicholas R. Lardy Philip T. Lincoln Jr. William W. Whitson Thomas B. Wiens In addition, the committee received the wholehearted cooperation from the following agencies of the Government, private research institutions, and universities: Bureau of East-West Trade, Department of Commerce. Heller, Ehrman, White and McAuliffe, Attorneys at Law. Department of Geography, University of Manitoba, Canada. Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies, Denmark. St. Anthony's College, Oxford, England. University of Uppsala, Sweden. Department of Economics, Yale University. It should be clearly understood that the views expressed in these papers are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily represent the positions of the respective executive departments, the Joint Economic Committee, individual members thereto, or the committee staff. The Library of Congress made available the services of John P. Hardt, senior specialist in the Congressional Research Service, who helped to plan the scope of the research and to coordinate the contributions for the present study. Ronda Bresnick of the Congressional Research Service assisted Dr. Hardt in this task. |