Background on the People’s Republic of China (PRC)

China During the Mao Era (1949-1978)

Mao Zedong (Chairman Mao) came to power on October 1st, 1949 with the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established a centrally planned economy (i.e., not market-oriented) where the government controlled key economic sectors of the economy, including:

• Steel production
• Transportation
• Communication
• Media
• Banks

Everyone worked for the State (local or regional government), and in return were guaranteed (Iron Rice Bowl):

• Education
• Housing
• Health care
• Pension program/care in old age or disability

Throughout his leadership, Mao implemented numerous ideological campaigns which severely (negatively) impacted economic growth and societal stability. These campaigns include the:

• Hundred Flowers Bloom (1956-57) Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957-59)
  • Campaign first to welcome diverse ideas, then to persecute those who criticized the state (specifically those who criticized Chairman Mao), distrust of intellectuals
• Great Leap Forward (~1958-1961)
  • Campaign to go from agrarian society to an industrialized, modern one
  • Collectivization introduced (private property confiscated)
  • Emphasis on steel and grain production, with ambitious production targets leading to inflated reports net exporter of grain=local famine
  • Estimates of somewhere between 18-45 million unnecessary deaths
• Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)
  • Promote Communism through routing out Capitalist, traditional and cultural elements deemed incompatible w/ Maoist Communism
  • Violent class struggle
  • Red Guards (youth group leading persecution of ‘capitalist roaders’)
• Down to the Countryside Movement (late 1960s - early 1970s / re-education)
  • Economic activity halted
  • Education system suspended
  • Cultural Relics destroyed and practices marginalized or lost
  • Millions persecuted, hundreds of thousands died