ABSTRACT
Prior to June 4, 1989, when the Chinese military brutally crushed a broad-based mass movement demanding political pluralization, China's economic reforms captured world attention and were regarded as an example of the wave of privatization that is emerging around the world. Privatization of the Chinese economy, however, followed a path very different from that taken in the non-Marxist-Leninist developing world and in developed capitalist economies. Chinese leaders talk about reform frequently, referring to change to a more efficient system or policy. Seldom do they use the word privatization, and they deny that they are privatizing the economy. Indeed, one of Zhao Ziyang's "crimes" was his willingness to embrace the idea of privatization. The object of reform and privatization is much larger in China than in any other case of public sector reform. China's gross national product exceeded 1 trillion yuan in 1987, or about $300 billion.
