China's Opening to Trade: Deng Xiaoping's 1978 Reforms

China's modern economic opening began in December 1978 at the Third Plenum of the 11th Central Committee, when Deng Xiaoping launched the "Reform and Opening Up" (改革开放) policy.

Key steps:

• Established Special Economic Zones (SEZs) (Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, Xiamen; later Hainan) with tax incentives, foreign-investment rules, and export orientation.
• Decollectivized agriculture (Household Responsibility System).
• Allowed township/village enterprises, then private firms.
• Joined IMF/World Bank (1980), GATT/WTO (2001).

This gradual, experimental shift from central planning to "socialist market economy" sparked unprecedented growth, lifting ~800 million out of poverty and making China the world's largest trader and second-largest economy.