difference whether a cat is white or black, as long as it catches mice. The pragmatic approach of Deng was, in a sense, a return to the pragmatic attitude present in the earliest days of the PRC, that was manifested in the country's determination to deal with all countries in foreign trade, regardless of political orientation, so long as bases of equality, mutual benefit, and non interference in one another's domestic affairs were maintained. That attitude continues to prevail.3
From their inception, the PRC's economic readjustments have been made within the framework of a comprehensive plan.4 Centralized planning and control is maintained in agriculture, to the extent that minimum production quotas continue to be established, and must still be met. These quotas are designed to
2Thomas R. Gottschang, "Economic Context," in Robert L. Worden, Andrea M. Savada, and Ronald E. Dolan, China: A Country Study, 5th ed. (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993), 206 276.
3T. G. Obi, "The Door Is Still Open, Despite Party Squabbles," Asian Business, 27 (April 1991): 46 48.
4Anthony P. C. Koo, "The Contract Responsibility System: Transformation From A Planned Economy To A Market Economy," Economic Development and Change, 38 (July 1990): 797 820.insure that basic food supplies continue to be available for Chinese cities.5 Once the family quota is met, however, all production from family plots may be sold on the open market, at prices established by the market.6
Agricultural reform has permitted China to become a net food exporter, as opposed to a net food importer. Agricultural reform, however, is but a component in a larger plan of economic decentralization. The contemporary decentralized system is one aspect of reform in the Chinese economy. It is a system in which the state maintains some degree of central control through the assignment of minimum production quotas, and through the allocation of resources.7 ...