TheChineseeconomicreform(simplifiedChinese:改革开放;traditionalChinese:改革开放;pinyin:Găigékāifàng,literallyReformandOpening)referstotheprogramofeconomicreformscalled"SocialismwithChinesecharacteristics"inthePeople'sRepublicofChina(PRC)thatwerestartedinDecember1978bypragmatistswithintheCommunistPartyofChina(CPC)ledbyDengXiaopingandareongoingasoftheearly21stcentury.ThegoalofChineseeconomicreformwastogeneratesufficientsurplusvaluetofinancethemodernizationofthemainlandChineseeconomy.Neitherthesocialistcommandeconomy,favoredbyCPCconservatives,northeMaoistattemptataGreatLeapForwardfromsocialismtocommunisminChina'sagriculture(withthecommunesystem)hadgeneratedsufficientsurplusvalueforthesepurposes.Theinitialchallengeofeconomicreformwastosolvetheproblemsofmotivatingworkersandfarmerstoproducealargersurplusandtoeliminateeconomicimbalancesthatwerecommonincommandeconomies.Economicreformsstartedsince1978havehelpedliftmillionsofpeopleoutofpoverty,bringingthepovertyratedownfrom53%ofthepopulationintheMaoerato12%in1981.Deng'seconomicreformsarestillbeingfollowedbytheCPCtodayandby2001thepovertyratebecameonly6%ofthepopulation.[1]

　　Chineseeconomicreformhasbeenundertakenthroughaseriesofphasedreforms.Generally,thesereformswerenottheresultsofagrandstrategy,butasimmediateresponsestopressingproblems.Insomecases,suchastheclosingofstateenterprises,thegovernmenthasbeenforcedbyeventsandeconomiccircumstancestodothingsthatitdidnotwanttodo.Asof2005,70%ofChina'sGDPisintheprivatesector.Therelativelysmallpublicsectorisdominatedbyabout200largestateenterprisesconcentratingmostlyinutilities,heavyindustries,andenergyresources.[2]

　　AlthoughChineseeconomicreformhasbeencharacterisedbymanyintheWestasareturntocapitalism,Chineseofficialshaveinsistedthatitisaformofsocialism,becausetodootherwisewouldcallintoquestiontheveryvalidityofMarxism,centralizedgovernmentplannedeconomyandthelegitimacyoftheregimeitself.However,theyhavenotarguedagainstthepremisethatmanyofthereformsinvolveadoptingeconomicpoliciesthatareinuseincapitalistnations,andoneofthepremisesofChineseeconomicreformisthatChinashouldnotavoidadopting"whateverworks"forideologicalreasons.

　　Inaddition,manyoftheeconomicstructuresthathavebeencreatedinthecourseofChineseeconomicreformmayappearsuperficiallysimilartothosefoundinothernations,butareinfactunique.Thereformshappenedsimultaneouslywithreformsinothersocialistcountries.