China's Economy on the Eve of Reform

Pressures for change are inherent in leadership succession under any political system. In China, because of his longevity and close involvement in major strategic initiatives, Mao Zedong's passing was bound to intensify such pressures. When he died in September 1976, Mao had held supreme power, largely unchallenged, for four decades. Since 1949, China's economic development had been uniquely, if not consistently, influenced by his personal prejudices and idiosyncratic view of how best to realize the country's development potential.