Zhu confronted China’s ancient and dilapidated State-Owned Enterprise system, letting some fail, bailing out others, and gradually pushing the economy in a more private direction. But Zhu hesistated to call his plan a “privatization,” fearing that rapid reform could lead to an East German or Soviet-style collapse. Beijing University Economist Yao Yang discusses this euphemism:
Zhu next took on China’s banking sector, putting himself in charge, and overseeing China’s first IPOs and joint ventures. Francis Leung, from CVC Capital Partners, discusses the effect on investors in Hong Kong.
As Zhu Rongji took charge of China’s economy he achieved several key goals that had eluded China’s leaders. Zhu put limits on Deng’s policy of allowing local governments to keep the revenue they generated through market reforms, a tactic former Assistant Secretary of State Susan Shirk called “playing to the provinces.” Susan Shirk explains: Like… Read more »