ABSTRACT

China still claims to adhere to socialism, albeit with ‘Chinese characteristics’. Its reform and modernization process is mainly linked to the capitalist transformation of the country’s economy. Other reforms within the political system and social systems are often discounted. Many observers do not believe that those measures – as direct elections at the local level, modifications of the party ideology or the introduction of labour market reforms – are sustainable under one-party rule. At the same time, little is known about those reforms striving at the establishment of a capital market and the struggle for a new social security system. Consequently, the current degree of system stability is hotly debated, though not always well understood.