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 playing a massive ultimatum game, Zhu revamped China’s federal tax policy along U.S. lines to bring new revenues to Beijing without upsetting the provinces.