From the Great Leap Forward to family-planning restrictions, China's rise has been marred by serious policy failures. Whether the Communist Party can avoid similar mistakes in the the future will depend on its recognition of a crucial distinction between such interventions and those that have fueled its economic success.
EVANSTON – “Over the past hundred years, the [Communist Party of China] has united and led the Chinese people in writing the most magnificent chapter in the millennia-long history of the Chinese nation,” President Xi Jinping declared at the CPC’s centennial celebration, in a speech that emphasized the Party’s role in driving China’s success, including its economic rise. But the CPC’s economic record is actually mixed, and even those who recognize this often overlook that its successes and failures stem from the same economic fundamentals.
EVANSTON – “Over the past hundred years, the [Communist Party of China] has united and led the Chinese people in writing the most magnificent chapter in the millennia-long history of the Chinese nation,” President Xi Jinping declared at the CPC’s centennial celebration, in a speech that emphasized the Party’s role in driving China’s success, including its economic rise. But the CPC’s economic record is actually mixed, and even those who recognize this often overlook that its successes and failures stem from the same economic fundamentals.