This book, first published in 1983, examines the significant economic reforms undergone by China following the death of Mao and the downfall of the Gang of Four. There is a detailed analysis of the different sectors of the economy which shows how the reforms were carried out in practice.

Professor Stephan Feuchtwang has been engaged in research on popular religion and politics in mainland China and Taiwan since 1966, resulting in a number of publications on charisma, place, temples and festivals, and civil society. He has also been engaged in a comparative project exploring the theme of the recognition of catastrophic loss, including the loss of archive and recall, which in Chinese cosmology and possibly elsewhere is pre-figured in the category of ghosts.

Part 1. Debates and Comparisons 1. Chinese Economic Debates after Mao and the Crisis of Official Marxism Soren Clausen 2. The Shanghai School and its Rejection Peer Moller Christensen 3. Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and their Relevance to China Athar Hussain 4. Japan and China Craig Littler Part 2. The Reforms in Practice 5. China's New Agricultural Revolution Jack Gray and Maisie Gray 6. China's System of Industrial Economic Planning Paul Hare 7. Enterprise Management - Moves Towards Democracy? Martin Lockett 8. Urban Employment and Labour Allocation Policies Gordon White 9. Foreign Investment and Trade: Origins of the Modernization Policy Terry Cannon