ABSTRACT
In 1983, Sun Yefang, China's most controversial political economist, died. From as early as the mid-1950s, Sun had been a major protagonist in debates over how China should modify the Stalinist conception of economic organisation. This chapter examines Sun's contribution to a crucial series of debates which have taken place since 1978. Sun's arguments for maintaining that the law of value should regulate production during socialist transition are persuasive. The chapter argues that there were some deficiencies in Sun's approach, particularly the belief that a socialist system or mode of production was in existence. To understand the importance of Sun Yefang and the intricacies of his approach, it is necessary to outline certain salient features of Marx's methodology, incorporated in Capital-a work read and re-read by Sun in his seven years in perdition. Marx's mode of production might be seen as the set of social relations within which human production took place.
