Chen Yun's Strategy for China's Development

Originally published in 1983. Since Mao Zedongfs death the Chinese have been debating the future character of the country’s political and economic system. The present collection of Chen Yun’s writings must be read against the backdrop of the ongoing policy discussion in the 1980s. Chen has been, and remains, an advocate of economic policies that are central to this debate, and since 1978 many of his views have become state policy. In this context the publication in China of this volume of Chen’s writings and speeches from 1956 to 1962 undoubtedly is designed in part to bolster Chen’s point of view in policy discussions. The author cites that the implicit message of this volume, translated here in full, is that had Chen's views been heeded earlier, China would have developed rapidly and successfully

Nicholas R. Lardy is Associate Professor of Economics at Yale University. A member of the Yale Faculty since 1975 he received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1968 and his Ph.D. in economics in 1975 from the University of Michigan. He is the author of several publications on the economy of contemporary China that analyze economic planning, industrial production, and international trade. These include Economic Growth and Distribution in China (1978), Chinese Economic Planning (1978), and Agriculture in China's Economic Development (forthcoming)., Kenneth Lieberthal is Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College, where he has been on the faculty since 1972. A graduate of Dartmouth College, he received his M.A., East Asian Institute Certificate, and Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. His numerous publications on Chinese and Soviet affairs include A Research Guide to Central Party and Government Meetings in China, 1949-1975 (1975), Central Documents and Politburo Politics in China (1978), Sino-Soviet Conflict in the 1970Ts: Its Evolution and Implications for the Strategic Triangle (1978), The Strategic Triangle: Can the US Play the 'China Card'? (1979), and Revolution and Tradition in Tientsin, 1949-52 (1980).