ABSTRACT
In parallel with the national economic reform agenda, SOEs reforms in Guangzhou have also undergone three major phases. The first phase lasted from 1979 to 1984, during which the theme was to expand the autonomy of the SOEs and to return the profits to enterprises. In the second phase, spanning from 1985 to 1993, the focus was to experiment with the attempt to separate SOEs from the government. Economic reforms in Guangzhou started in response to the call of the central government for readjusting the economic sector, which was approved in the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee Meeting of the CCP held in 1978. The chapter discusses the 1979–84: decentralization of authority and returning profits to enterprises. It also discusses1985–93: separating government from enterprises and 1994 – establishing modern enterprises. The chapter describes the three major changes that have occurred in the labour system of Guangzhou.
