ABSTRACT
Since the late nineteenth century when modernisation first became an important issue – as well as a bone of contention – in the political programmes of Chinese regimes facing an aggressive military challenge from the colonial powers, the goals and mechanisms of modernisation have changed significantly. The current course of economic reforms and modernisation was preceded by a century of war and revolution and upheaval associated with profound national and class struggle. Today, China officially adheres to market economy and the communist ideology as its guiding principles for modernisation. Its new developmental agenda has not completely replaced the earlier socialist rhetoric: instead, the two are synthesised and modified using cultural elements. But the rhetoric of economic development driven by market forces dominates the leadership’s political programme.
