ABSTRACT
The year 1984 was a watershed in the ongoing movement of economic reform in China. Not only were two landmark decisions enunciated, but the thrust of the movement became increasingly liberal as the year wore on, buttressed by the growing clout and nerve, not just of the reform or market faction as a whole, but of its most adventuresome proponents as well. The impetus toward reform of the economy was already some five years old at the beginning of 1984. But the principal locus of success at that point was still the countryside. There household contract systems had been replacing the commune as the organizing framework for rural production since early 1980. All production equipment, building materials, raw materials, spare parts, and packaging materials imported for producing export goods were exempted from customs duties and industrial and commercial consolidated taxes, as were the products for export.
