ABSTRACT
In 1984, as the Chinese leadership made a deliberate effort to stimulate personal consumption and spending, the regime gave both individuals and enterprises unprecedented latitude to buy goods from overseas. China's decision to stimulate consumerism had both political and economic components. By the beginning of 1984, Chinese economic planners found a situation in which consumer demand was far exceeding the ability of Chinese industry to satisfy it. In a nation newly obsessed with consumer goods, shrewd and savvy hustlers began migrating to China's special economic zones (SEZs), the areas in southern China where goods from abroad could be imported duty-free. China's unprecedented spending on imported consumer goods had a quick and drastic impact upon the economy —in particular, its balance of trade and its foreign reserves.
