Deng Xiaoping

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Deng Xiaoping 邓小平
Portrait of comrade Deng Xiaoping
Born	(1904-08-22)August 22, 1904 Guang'an, Qing China
Died	February 19, 1997(1997-02-19) (aged 92) Beijing, People's Republic of China
Nationality	Chinese
Political orientation	Marxism-Leninism Mao Zedong Thought Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

Deng Xiaoping (Chinese: 邓小平) (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader, most notable for his tenure as the "paramount leader" and president of the People's Republic of China from 22 July 1977 until 22 February 1992. During his leadership, he initiated a policy of advancing the productive forces through industry and market development while maintaining the governing role of the Communist Party of China, its commitment to Marxism-Leninism and to the task of building Socialism according to the Four Cardinal Principles.

He is largely associated with the development of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, of which Deng Xiaoping Thought is a part, and is considered by many to be the "Architect of modern China".

Political Career

Deng Xiaoping was born in an educated land-owning family in Sichuan Province. He studied in France, where he became a Marxist-Leninist, joined the Communist Party of China in 1923 and took part in the Chinese Revolution. During his later political career, he would recall the more formative years of the Communist Party of China and its War of Resistance in the following way:

"Now I should like to talk about our Party’s experience during the War of Resistance Against Japan. Tactics serve strategies. The years prior to the anti-Japanese war are called the period of the Agrarian Revolution. At that time we pursued a policy of confiscating land from the landlord class. After Japan stepped up its aggression against China, the national problem became the principal concern, and Japanese imperialism became our main target of attack. Under these circumstances, we had to ally ourselves with all our indirect allies in the world, which included contacts with the United States, for example. The comprador-capitalist class, previously our main target of attack, became one whom we both unite with and struggle against. Its representative was Chiang Kai-shek, with whom we co-operated to resist Japan, adopting a policy of both unity and struggle in the course of co-operation."

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he became the Party's Secretary General, but was purged twice during the Cultural Revolution. After Mao's death, he managed to return to political power to become the leader of the country by July 1977. In December 1978, he initiated the Opening Up and Reform policy, emphasizing the goal of the Four Modernisations, and proposed the following year to revise the Chinese constitution. Deng Xiaoping resigned from his positions in November 1989, although he technically remained president until the end of his southern tour in February 1992; Jiang Zemin officially took over a year later. Deng died on 19 February 1997 of a combination of a lung infection and Parkinson's disease.

The Opening Up and Reform policy

The Opening Up and Reform policy was proposed in order to deal with the main problems the country faced at the time: namely a very poor population, the lack of an industrial base, and the lack of a large urban population (80% of the population lived in rural areas at the time). Deng Xiaoping saw that the country was still too underdeveloped to build Socialism where premature collectivization has brought antagonistic contradictions between the relations of production and the social character of the productive forces. The idea was proposed of implementing market policies in order to build the productive forces in order to eventually be able to build Socialism. In this regard, the Opening Up and Reform policy can be compared to the soviet New Economic Policy implemented by Lenin. Deng Xiaoping explained his policies in the following manner:

"It is wrong to maintain that a market economy exists only in capitalist society and that there is only “capitalist” market economy. Why can’t we develop a market economy under socialism? Developing a market economy does not mean practicing capitalism. While maintaining a planned economy as the mainstay of our economic system, we are also introducing a market economy. But it is a socialist market economy. Although a socialist market economy is similar to a capitalist one in method, there are also differences between them. The socialist market economy mainly regulates interrelations between state-owned enterprises, between collectively owned enterprises and even between foreign capitalist enterprises. But in the final analysis, this is all done under socialism in a socialist society. We cannot say that market economy exists only under capitalism. Market economy was in its embryonic stages as early as feudalist society. We can surely develop it under socialism. Similarly, taking advantage of the useful aspects of capitalist countries, including their methods of operation and management, does not mean that we will adopt capitalism. Instead, we use those methods in order to develop the productive forces under socialism. As long as learning from capitalism is regarded as no more than a means to an end, it will not change the structure of socialism or bring China back to capitalism."

This policy lead to a period of great economic growth for the country, with a median growth of 9.2% between 1980 and 2020.

Further Reading

• Deng Xiaoping - People's Daily

Selected Works

Deng Xiaoping's Selected Works are composed of three volumes, each dedicated to works written during a specific time-frame. They are available for free online at https://dengxiaopingworks.wordpress.com.

Here are those that are in our library:

Library works by Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping Selected Works Vol. 1 (1938-1965)

A General Account of the Struggle Against the Enemy Over the Past Five Years

Building a socialism with a specifically Chinese character

Correctly Disseminate Mao Zedong Thought

Emancipate the mind, seek truth from facts and unite as one in looking to the future

Mobilize New Recruits and Conduct Political Work Among Them

Reform is the only way for China to develop its productive forces

Deng Xiaoping interview with Mike Wallace

Report delivered at a conference on the press in Southwest China

Seize the Opportunity To Develop the Economy

The "Two Whatevers" Do Not Accord With Marxism

The Party and the Anti-Japanese Democratic Government

The Principles, Tasks and Orientation for Cultural Work in the 129th Division

The working class should make outstanding contributions to the Four Modernizations

To build socialism we must first develop the productive forces

To uphold socialism we must eliminate poverty

Uphold the Four Cardinal Principles

We can develop a market economy under socialism