ABSTRACT
This chapter puts the Asian transition in comparison with that of Eastern Europe to determine the nature of changes in Asian countries and make some analytical generalizations. It examines what has changed and what has not in China, North Korea, and Indochina a brief conclusion for each country under study what direction and how far. The chapter also examines several important dimensions of China's economic reform to determine what direction China is heading and how far China has moved toward that direction. After more than two decades of economic reform, commercial, labor, real estate, and stock markets have emerged and many other elements of a market economy have come into being in most of Asian communist and post-communist states. In the history of economics, Adam Smith and Karl Marx presented two ideal types: "free market economy" of capitalism and "planned command economy" of communism. The overarching goal of China's reform is to create a "socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics.".
