CRI听力：The Socialist Market Economy

B: And I'm AE. In today's review of China's 30-year reform and opening up drive, we'll check out how the country has successfully transformed from a planned economy to a market-oriented economy.

A: After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the state began to implement a highly centralized planned economy. This system once played a vital role in laying a sound economic foundation for New China.

B: But when China adopted the reform and opening up policy in 1978, the defects of the planned economy were exposed, and imposed restrictions on economic development.

A: Aware of the limitations of the centrally planned economy, the Communist Party realized that the old economic system must be improved to keep pace with the times.

B: Since the early 1980s, China has continually readjusted its theory and practices in building a vigorous socialist economic system.

A: At the 12th CPC National Congress in September 1982, the Party stated its intention to "maintain the planned economy as the mainstay, and market regulation as a supplement."

B: Two years later, attendees at the 3rd Plenary Session of the 12th CPC Central Committee adopted the "Decision on Reform of the Economic Structure." The decision made it clear that China's socialist economy was a planned commodity economy based on public ownership.

A: The decision marked a breakthrough in the Party's understanding of the market economy. It broke through the traditional mode of thinking and paved the way for China's successful transition from a planned economy to a market economy."

B: But reform and opening up wasn't always a smooth process. In the early 1990s, under the impact of the drastic social changes in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the booming reform and opening up campaign slowed dramatically.

A: The reform and opening up drive was burdened with national arguments on the definition of socialism. How to build socialism and further reform and open up became a pressing issue the nation had to deal with.

B: At this crucial juncture, in January 1992, 88-year-old Deng Xiaoping went on an extended inspection tour through Wuchang, Shanghai, Zhuhai and Shenzhen.

A: During his month-long tour, Deng Xiaoping delivered a series of speeches voicing his views on reform and opening up. His speeches clarified confusing ideas about socialism and addressed new problems emerging in the reform and opening up process.
 
B: Deng Xiaoping's speeches played a decisive role in getting China's reform and opening up back on the right track. His ideas brushed away long-held misunderstandings and prejudices against the market economy.

A: In October 1992, eight months after the leader's southern China tour, the 14th CPC National Congress made a historic decision. In his report to the congress, Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin explicitly declared that the objective of China's economic restructuring was to establish a socialist market economic system.
 
B: The session was a landmark event in the history of New China, bringing reform and opening up into a new stage.  (www.hXen.com)

A: Since the target for the economic reform was set, the state has adopted a string of policies and measures to improve the socialist market economic system.

B: The transition from a planned economy to a socialist market economy spurred explosive growth in China, turning the country into one of the fastest-developing economies in the world, with annual GDP growth averaging over 9 percent.

A: And that's all we have for today's review of China's reform and opening up policy over the past 30 years.