ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the larger context within which Chinese economic theory and economics education evolved ~1976–2001. The history of economic structuring can be divided into five periods: Transition: 1976#8211;1978; Initial Restructuring: 1978#8211;1989; Tiananmen and its Aftermath 1989#8211;1991; Renewed Restructuring 1992#8211;2001; and WTO and Beyond: 2001#8211;present. The most intense period of the Cultural Revolution was brought to a close in the late 1960s by the army's intervention to restore order. In the early 1980s a rough consensus emerged among many Marxist-oriented reform economists in China about the character of Chinese economic history since 1949. The first group of economists were at least 70 years old at the time of the historic 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1978 that set China on its reform course. Xue Muqiao, Chen Yun, and Sun Yefang are key figures in this group.
