China’s Restructured Central Planning: From an Instrument for Control to
Abstract
China‟s Mao instituted the Central Planning Commission (CPC) for tight controls. By 1976 when his demise came, China‟s economy was structurally rigid and functionally inefficient. Deng Xiaoping, also a first-generation Communist, became China‟s paramount leader. Mao emphasized „ideological purity.‟ Unlike Mao, Deng was a pragmatist. He reaffirmed the absolute leadership of the Communist Party in China. But he also wanted economic successes. One of his well-known sayings was “It matters little whether a cat‟s color is black or white; if it catches mice, it is a good cat.” Translated, ideological purity aside, Deng wanted the Communist Party to transform the country into a dynamic force on the world stage. The former CPC continued its function in macro planning. However, instead of being a mechanism for control, the restructured CPC—renamed as the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)--has since become an instrument for systemic transformation and dynamic growth.