China from Isolationism to Gradual Globalization  Cover Image

Cína na ceste od izolacionismu k plíživé globalizaci
China from Isolationism to Gradual Globalization

Author(s): Rudolf Fürst
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Ústav mezinárodních vztahů

Summary/Abstract: Possibly the most fundamental and irreversible shift to come with the reform process in China has been the breaking down of the hermetically sealed and egocentric state economic system. The prereform status quo was the legacy of an economic and cultural isolationism dating back to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). In Maoist times, China was a nationalistic continuation of its own imperial tradition, redefined with the help of some borrowings from Marxist-Leninist ideology. It was only the elite reformers after 1978 who sparked market reforms, opened the country up to foreign capital, and appreciated the benefits of foreign trade in modern economics. However not even this change of orientation toward the outside world and the virtual elimination of Marxist thought led the Chinese to abandon their concept of national cultural identity, which is even reflected in the economy. On the surface it appears that the PRC is an economically open state, as shown by macroeconomic indicators and the rhetoric of Chinese economic diplomacy. In practice, however, this openness is at best debatable....

  • Issue Year: 37/2002
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 5-28
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: Czech