Main articles:
History of China and
History of the People's Republic of ChinaMajor combat in the
Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 with the Communist Party of China in control of the mainland, and the
Kuomintang (KMT) retreating to
Taiwan and some outlying islands of
Fujian. On
October 1,
1949 Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China, declaring "the Chinese people have stood up".
[17] Red China was a frequent appellation for the PRC (generally within the
Western Bloc) used from the time of Communist ascendance until the mid-late 1970s with the
improvement of relations between China and the West.
[18]Following a series of dramatic economic failures (caused by the
Great Leap Forward), Mao stepped down from his position as chairman in 1959, with
Liu Shaoqi as successor. Mao still had much influence over the Party, but was removed from day-to-day management of economic affairs, which came under the control of Liu Shaoqi and
Deng Xiaoping.
Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949.
In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the
Cultural Revolution, which would last until Mao's death a decade later. The Cultural Revolution, motivated by power struggles within the Party and a fear of the
Soviet Union, led to a major upheaval in Chinese society. In 1972, at the peak of the
Sino-Soviet split, Mao and
Zhou Enlai met
Richard Nixon in Beijing to establish relations with the
United States. In the same year, the PRC was admitted to the
United Nations, replacing the
Republic of China for
China's membership of the
United Nations, and permanent membership of the
Security Council.
After Mao's death in 1976 and the arrest of the
Gang of Four, blamed for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping quickly wrestled power from Mao's anointed successor
Hua Guofeng. Although Deng never became the head of the Party or State himself, his influence within the Party led the country to economic reforms of significant magnitude. The Communist Party subsequently loosened governmental control over citizens' personal lives and the
communes were disbanded with many peasants receiving multiple land leases, which greatly increased incentives and agricultural production. This turn of events marked China's transition from a planned economy to a
mixed economy with an increasingly open market environment, a system termed by many "
market socialism". The PRC adopted its current
constitution on
December 4,
1982.
In 1989, the death of pro-reform official,
Hu Yaobang, helped to spark the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, during which students and others campaigned for several months for more
democratic rights and
freedom of speech. However, they were eventually put down on
June 4 when
PLA troops and vehicles entered and forcibly cleared the square by opening fire on protesters, resulting in numerous casualties. This event was widely reported and
famously videotaped, which brought worldwide condemnation and sanctions against the government.
President
Jiang Zemin and Premier
Zhu Rongji, both former mayors of
Shanghai, led post-Tiananmen China in the 1990s. Under Jiang Zemin's ten years of administration, China's economic performance pulled an estimated 150 million peasants out of poverty and sustained an average annual
GDP growth rate of 11.2%.
[19][20] The country formally joined the
World Trade Organization in 2001.
Although China needs economic growth to spur its development, the government has begun to worry that rapid economic growth has negatively impacted the country's resources and environment. Another concern is that certain sectors of society are not sufficiently benefiting from China's economic development. As a result, under current President
Hu Jintao and Premier
Wen Jiabao, the PRC have initiated policies to address these issues of equitable distribution of resources, but the outcome remains to be seen.
[21] For much of China's population,
living standards have seen extremely large improvements, and freedom continues to expand, but political controls remain tight.
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