ABSTRACT
The debates on the decentralization of the Chinese industry went on after 1978. The labor contract system within Chinese industry best expresses the new approach in urban areas. Some institutional changes in China go far beyond the reform practice in the Soviet-bloc countries. The outset of the economic reform in China is usually seen as coinciding with the 3rd Plenary Session of the Party's 11th Central Committee, which took place in December 1978. After 1978, the interdependence between economics and politics appeared in a somewhat modified form. The crucial point of the decision structure in socialist economic systems is the position of the enterprise vis-a-vis the "upper institutions," such as ministries, planning offices and regional bodies. A strategy of balanced growth was not duly considered from 1976 to 1979. Opening the national economy to international markets has its consequence on the commodity composition of imports and exports as well.
