ABSTRACT
Xue Muqiao was a major architect of China’s market-economy reforms and was
a key proponent of those reforms. He is regarded as one of China’s most eminent
and respected economists. Intimately familiar with issues of economic develop-
ment, he started fi eld surveys in the early 1930s as a member of a famous “rural
economy investigation team.” Between 1943 and 1949, he chaired policy formu-
lation in China’s revolutionary “base” area in the monetary, fi scal, and industrial
and commercial fi elds. Exposed to the actual practice of economic policy making
at this early stage, he dealt with such issues as price regulation, tax policies, and
currency issuance, all of which played a crucial role in his design and advocacy of
market-oriented reforms. The experience helped lay the foundation for his think-
ing on specifi c policies to do with price reform, currency reform, and reforms of
the banking and ownership systems. His unique position as a fi nancial leader and
one of the most respected economists in China enabled him to have a strong infl u-
ence on senior decision-making levels in the country. He directly participated in
the Central government’s decision-making process, and played a key role in
China’s “marketizing” reforms after 1978.
