Implications of China' Reform Experience

As reform approaches the end of its second decade, the prospect of an interpretive summary of China's recent economic experience becomes irresistible. The analyst may plausibly hope to separate trend from cycle and pick out key elements in the kaleidoscopic jumble of events. China's unique combination of enormous size, large and unexpected economic gains, unorthodox policies, hybrid institutional structures and formidable challenges to future economic advance adds to the promise of such a review. This article begins with a summary of reform outcomes, followed by discussions of the reform process, the implications of recent reform experience and China's economic prospects. It concludes with a hesitant excursion into the realm of “lessons” from China's reform experience.