Chapter 18 Chapter 17 The Man Who Broke the Window Paper

In the spring of 1991, the political atmosphere in Beijing was still tense, but a subtle turning point quietly appeared in the south. From February 15th to March 22nd of this year, Shanghai's "Liberation Daily" successively published three comments signed by "Huangfuping", proposing to continue to emancipate the mind, dare to take risks, boldly reform, and stop being confined by the surname. The question of "she" surnamed "capital".People later learned that this group of editorials was written based on the spirit of Deng Xiaoping’s series of speeches during the Spring Festival in Shanghai. At that time, because it did not indicate the source of the ideas, as soon as the article was published, it caused an uproar in the public opinion circle. Big wave, attracted accusations and siege.

Wu Jinglian, who is very sensitive to current political changes, has already smelled new air. On May 8, 1991, at a seminar for business managers, he said, "Market-based resource allocation is the only effective coordination method for the modern economy. China's market-oriented reform has passed the critical point. It is absolutely impossible to return to the old system.” In his oral history in his later years, he recalled that in the next year or so, he drafted a set of reform plans, took over a magazine, wrote a long article, published a book, hosted a A seminar and two proposals were written.

These tasks are intertwined, and all of them have left a strong mark in the history of China's contemporary economic reform.Let's talk about it in detail. The reform plan refers to the "overall design plan for China's economic reform." This work has actually started quietly since 1990.Looking back at that period, Wu Jinglian did not just fight. On the one hand, he stood up and started a fierce debate with the "planners". Think and design feasible solutions.At that time in China, many people lost confidence in the future of reform, and few people were still doing research. Wu Jinglian and several colleagues in the planning office did not think so.He later wrote: "Our thinking at the time was that although China's economic reform had entered a low ebb on the surface, since China had no other way out but reform, the climax would eventually come, and we should use this period to It is time to sum up past experience, absorb the achievements of others, and make theoretical and programmatic preparations for the coming reform climax.”

This passage is full of determination for reform, and it reminds people of the four words entrusted by Gu Zhun before his death 16 years ago-"wait for the time".During that period, Wu Jinglian’s traits of reformism were fully manifested. He had an undoubted spirit of independent thinking and criticism. At the same time, his “constructive personality” made him always promote rather than destroy Let's look at the road ahead. In the autumn and winter of 1990, when the debate was at its most intense, Wu Jinglian initiated and organized a research group on “Overall Design of China’s Economic Reform,” consisting of his old colleague Zhang Zhuoyuan and a group of scholars younger than him, including Zhou Xiaochuan, Lou Jiwei, Li Jiange, Qian Yingyi, Wu Xiaoling, Xie Ping, Rong Jingben, Guo Shuqing and more than ten people.Many of them were members of the drafting group for the supporting reform plan in 1986.After a few years, the situation of China's reform is no longer what it used to be, but they still do not change their stance. They still take the overall supporting reform as the basic concept, and expand from multiple directions such as enterprise, price, finance, tax system, and finance. Advanced research, and put forward more specific measures and timetable, they call it "pre-research".We will see in the future that when the climax of reform really came as expected, this overall plan played a decisive role and finally changed the path of China's reform.

Wu Jinglian's research group is similar to a non-governmental organization without official financial support.He recalled that the relationship between China and the United States was very tense at that time, and almost no one dared to touch the Ford Foundation with American background. In order to make the project go smoothly, he boldly applied to the Ford Foundation and received a research grant of 750,000 yuan.In addition, he also applied for a research grant from the National Social Science Foundation.He joked that if the situation hadn't turned abruptly later, this alone would have been enough to incriminate him and his colleagues.

The magazine he took over was the bimonthly "Reform" founded in 1988 by the economist Jiang Yiwei (1920~1993). Jiang used to be the director of the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is famous for advocating the "enterprise standard theory".He is quite open-minded. He has always advocated the autonomy of enterprises and opposed the practice of "birdcage economy". For the state-owned enterprises, his view is that "it is better to take no medicine than to take any medicine, and live without any medicine".He also has a "black box" theory, and believes that "the government can control enterprises from the outside, but don't put their hands inside. Taking a step back, it can't be a 'black box', at least it should be a 'glass box'."These thoughts of his are undoubtedly the most radical among scholars of his generation. In 1985, Jiang Yiwei retired and became the dean of the Chongqing Academy of Social Sciences, and then founded Reform. At the beginning of 1991, after the publication of three articles by Huangfuping in Jiefang Daily, Wu Jinglian recommended it to Jiang Yiwei amidst criticism, and reprinted it in the July issue of "Reform" magazine, causing quite a stir. This is the only reprinted article. A national economic theory publication of Huangfu Ping's articles.

Not long after, Jiang Yiwei was diagnosed with cancer. He searched all over the country and thought that Wu Jinglian was the most suitable to take over "Reform".He had no personal relationship with Wu, so he first worked through Ma Hong and Xue Xiaohe, the daughter of Xue Muqiao, and at the same time he wrote a letter to invite him himself, with the meaning of "entrusting the orphan at the end of his life" in his words.Wu Jinglian has no experience in running a journal, and he has no interest in administrative management. On the one hand, he believes that he has not inherited his mother Deng Jixing's genes in running a newspaper, so he seems very hesitant.

At the end of 1991, the Party Central Committee held a symposium to prepare for the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Jiang Yiwei, who was seriously ill, attended the meeting due to illness. After speaking his views, he was already weak and had to leave early. Wu Jinglian got up and saw him off. At that time, the two held hands and looked at each other, but they didn't agree. They both knew that this parting might be the eternal farewell of this life. From the first issue in 1992, Wu Jinglian generously took over the editorial duties of "Reform" and co-edited with Jiang Yiwei. In January 1993, Jiang passed away.After Wu Jinglian took over the magazine, he decided on topics and organized manuscripts to help train a group of freelance writers.Throughout the 1990s, "Reform" was an important ideological center for China's economic reform. Most of the latest views of Wu Jinglian and many scholars were published here for the first time. In 1998, the highest award in the field of economic theory - the Sun Yefang Economic Science Award awarded 11 papers It was the best theoretical article of the year, and 5 of them were from Reform, which was a momentous event.It can be said that Wu Jinglian lived up to Jiang's entrustment. He edited this journal until 2000, and then served as the honorary editor-in-chief.

The so-called one long article and one book refer to the long paper "On Planning and Markets as a Method of Resource Allocation" published in December 1991 and the book "On Competitive Market Systems" published almost at the same time. This article and book are the painstaking work of Wu Jinglian. While arguing with the "planners", he sat down and fully expounded his views on China's reform with theoretical weapons. "On Planning and Markets as a Method of Resource Allocation" is a long paper with a text and notes of about 30,000 words.Wu Jinglian made a comprehensive and in-depth discussion of the economic relationship between planning and market based on his dual proficiency in understanding the planned economic system and the market economic system. It is one of the most important theoretical essays in Wu Jinglian's life.

At the beginning of the thesis, Wu Jinglian put on a posture of decisive debate.He writes that the relationship between markets and planning has become an almost “permanent theme” of socialist economics since the question of how the public sector of the economy works was raised nearly a century ago.In recent years, my country's economic circles have repeatedly conducted heated debates on the relationship between planning and market, planning regulation and market regulation, and the relationship between planned economy and market economy (commodity economy).Semantic differences aside, the debate has focused on the relationship between planning and markets as ways of allocating scarce resources.

In the thesis, he started with Adam Smith and Marx's elaboration on the mechanism of market resource allocation, and respectively described the different understandings and practices of Western neoclassical economics, Leninism, Stalinism and Chinese economic circles over the past 100 years. Finally, the essence of the disagreement and the focus of the question are: "Can the socialist economy only allocate resources within the social scope according to the predetermined plan, so that the subjectively prepared prescriptive plan becomes the main allocator of scarce resources?" The answer given by Wu Jinglian is no.After comparing various economic operating systems, he concluded: "In short, all modern market economies are market economies with macro-management, government intervention or administrative guidance, or 'mixed economies'. That is to say, this kind of economy is based on Based on the allocation of market resources, the government and other public institutions are introduced to regulate economic activities through plans and policies. Obviously, my country's socialist planned commodity economy has a similar operating mechanism. Finally, he returned to China’s economic status quo, pointing out that “under the circumstances that various economic sectors coexist and non-state-owned sectors are relatively flexible, it is inevitable that we will fail to strengthen and support the public sector of the economy by strengthening mandatory planning.” For the harsh economic environment, China must rely on the establishment of a new economic system to cure it, and there is no other way out.At the same time, he suggested that after a year of governance from September 1988 to September 1989, the rise in prices dropped rapidly, and even the so-called "sluggish market" appeared. Fleeting opportunity. Wu Jinglian handed over this long article to the "Chinese Social Sciences" magazine. The editorial department hesitated over and over again whether it should be published, and finally published it in December 1991 at the insistence of Han Zhiguo, director of the economic editorial office.A detail worth recording is that exactly 10 years later, Wu Jinglian confronted many economists because of his fierce criticism of the disordered state of the capital market, which sparked a sensational debate, among which Han Zhiguo was the main opponent one of them. At the same time as this paper was published, the book "On the Competitive Market System" co-authored by Wu Jinglian and his student Liu Jirui was published by China Finance and Economics Publishing House.The purpose of this book is exactly the same as that of the thesis. It absorbs the essence of the resource allocation theory of neoclassical economics and the theory of socialist economic reform. Economic theory and strategic principles of institutional transition, and put forward many policy recommendations for the current and future reform and development.In the preface of this book, Wu Jinglian wrote as a challenger, "Some comrades are always accustomed to equating the planned economy with the socialist economy, and the market economy with capitalism, believing that capitalism must be hidden behind market regulation. With the further deepening of the reform, more and more comrades began to understand: planning and the market are just two means and forms of resource allocation, rather than the signs of dividing socialism and capitalism.” According to Wu Jinglian's recollection, after the first draft of this book was completed, a publishing house in Jiangxi expressed its willingness to publish it with the highest standard, but it gave up after the turmoil in 1989.Later, the Industrial Economics Publishing House expressed its intention to accept it, but proposed to delete the words "market economy", Wu Jinglian flatly refused, saying that he would rather not publish it than delete it.Until March 1991, the manuscript was transferred to China Finance and Economics Publishing House. The editor-in-chief of the agency wrote in the final review opinion: "I have read through the manuscript of Comrade Wu Jinglian, and I have the same opinion as the first reviewer Jiang Zhihui and the second reviewer Yuan Zhongliang. This is a very insightful and valuable work...it should be published in a timely manner. However, considering the recent discussions in the newspapers about the surname 'she' and the surname 'capital', I have some chills." Finally, after careful consideration, China Finance and Economics Publishing House is signed by the president, editor-in-chief, and editor-in-charge. If disaster happens, they will advance and retreat together and decide to "take a risk" to publish this book. The release and publication of "On Planning and Market as a Method of Resource Allocation" and "On Competitive Market System" caused great shock in the political and economic circles.In the future, they will be regarded as a total sublation and a total liquidation of the planned economic system by Chinese scholars at a theoretical level. one of the works". This "controversy between planning and market" that took place between the end of 1989 and 1991 - in fact, this was also the most exciting battle in the history of China's reform to liquidate the trend of thought of the planned economy, and it was Wu Jinglian's real growth into a first-class economy Scholar's landmark event.With rare moral courage and academic skills, he defended the banner of market reform.This mild-mannered Jiangnan native who has never blushed with anyone in his life showed a stubborn and fearless side when he was flying against the current. At the same time that Wu Jinglian's papers and books were published, a dramatic event finally happened, and history pushed him to the center of the stage. From January 18 to February 21, 1992, the 87-year-old Deng Xiaoping went south to inspect Wuchang, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shanghai and other places. The standard should mainly look at whether it is conducive to the development of productive forces in a socialist society, whether it is conducive to enhancing the overall national strength of a socialist country, and whether it is conducive to improving the people's living standards." "The essence of socialism is to liberate productive forces, develop productive forces, eliminate Exploitation, eliminate polarization, and finally achieve common prosperity." "More planning or more markets is not the essential difference between socialism and capitalism." Economy. Development is the last word." "China should be vigilant against 'right', but mainly prevent 'left'." This is the landmark "Southern Speech" in the history of China's reform.For a time, emancipating the mind and accelerating the pace of reform became the common voice of public opinion. On the eve of a completely new turning point, Wu Jinglian’s paper "On Planning and Market as a Method of Resource Allocation" and "On Competitive Market System" published provided an economic theoretical basis for this ideological emancipation movement, "Wu Jinglian The name "Market" quickly became known to the public, and he became the most famous economist in the country. On March 14, when Deng Xiaoping's speech on the southern inspection had not been officially reported in domestic newspapers, the "Reform" magazine, edited by Wu Jinglian, and the China Enterprise Reform and Development Research Association jointly held a "speeding up reform and opening up Steps to build socialism with Chinese characteristics" theoretical seminar, more than 70 economists including Du Runsheng, Tong Dalin, Gao Shangquan, Xu Xuehan, Wang Mengkui, Wu Shuqing, Li Yining, Zhou Shulian, Zhou Xiaochuan and Fan Gang attended the meeting. This is Deng Xiaoping's "Southern "Speech", the first large-scale academic event in China to respond.At the meeting, many scholars expressed their intention to speed up the reform.Tong Dalin, a veteran economist and former deputy director of the State Economic Reform Commission, summed it up in one word, "dreaming for it". On April 16, some economists in Beijing held a symposium on accelerating Shanghai’s reform and opening up at the Fragrant Hills Hotel. In his speech, Wu Jinglian once again emphasized the importance of the market system and proposed that “market economy” should be truly established as a national strategy.Liu Ji, who was the director of the Shanghai Economic System Reform Office at the time, and Wu Mingyu, deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, felt that what he said was very clear, so they suggested writing it out and sending it to the central decision-makers. With the assistance of Li Jiange, Wu Jinglian wrote a proposal and sent it to Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Zhu Rongji, then Vice Premier of the State Council, on April 30.In this letter, Wu Jinglian reviewed the many debates on planning and the market over the past 10 years, and then clearly suggested that the central government should establish the term "socialist market economy". From a theoretical point of view, he pointed out very sharply that China's reform has embarked on a market-oriented road, and there is no way out. Therefore, in theory, it is time to make a decisive breakthrough.He said, "Actually, since the classic Marxist writers Marx, Engels, and Lenin have always believed that commodity production or monetary economy is incompatible with socialism, if we want to stick to the traditional concept of dogmatism, even if we adopt the concept of 'commodity economy' or even 'commodity production' However, it is impossible to get out of the predicament caused by the disconnection between outdated dogma and real life. Therefore, changing the "market economy" into a "commodity economy" will not solve the problem. Stalin's "Problems of Socialist Economy in the Soviet Union" may have to go back to the old formulation from 1982 to 1983 that "the socialist economy can only be a planned economy with commodity production and commodity exchange". The law is one that most people disagree with, and has been abandoned by the central government documents from 1984 to the present." Many years later, people will still be moved by Wu Jinglian's sincerity and bravery after reading this passage carefully.It can be seen from this paragraph that at this moment, he has surpassed the limitations of the previous generation of economists in finding a way out of reform within the old framework. , The person who really broke the window paper. At the same time that Wu Jinglian wrote the letter, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was in full swing preparing for the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of China to be held at the end of the year. Whether to adopt the term "socialist market economy" has become a very sensitive topic that attracts the attention of the whole country.From various indications, the controversy is raging like an undercurrent and has never stopped. On June 9, General Secretary Jiang Zemin gave a speech at the provincial-level cadre training class of the Central Party School. He mentioned that there are various descriptions of China's economic system in the theoretical circles, including "socialist commodity economic system" and "socialist planned system". Market economic system” and “socialist market economic system” and so on, he expressed his tendency to use the term “socialist market economic system”.What is intriguing is that on June 15, Xinhua News Agency omitted this reference to the economic system in the press release broadcasting Jiang Zemin's speech, indicating that the leadership is still tentative at this time.However, what is unexpected is that there is no objection to the term "socialist market economy" among senior cadres.So the basic tone of the "14th National Congress" was set. In August, Wu Jinglian returned to China after visiting and researching at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Liu Guoguang, who participated in the writing team of the "14th National Congress", told him that the drafting of the report of the "14th National Congress" was not going well. The issue of "market economic system" was discussed in the general introduction, but later it was put into a sub-title. It was regarded as a method and downgraded to the operational level. In addition, the meaning of "market regulation" was also injected.Wu Jinglian immediately realized that if the institutional debate could not be clarified in terms of goals and programs this time, the reform process might still be delayed. So, on September 5, he again wrote a second letter of advice to Jiang Zemin, in which he wrote, "A few days ago I read the part about the 'socialist market economy' in the draft report of the '14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China'. Some ideas are reported as follows."In the letter, Wu Jinglian put forward five points of view and sincerely stated: "The goal of my country's economic reform is to establish a socialist market economy. One of the most significant developments in the theory of scientific socialism and Marxist political economy in the 20th century, its theoretical and practical significance is far-reaching, and should be summarized and evaluated in weighty language. The current manuscript seems to be insufficient." He also made discretionary revisions to some of the formulations in the opinion draft. For example, the draft stated that "After the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee, the formulation of a combination of planned economy and market regulation was used. This understanding The deepening of economic development has played an important role in promoting my country's economic development and economic system reform." Wu Jinglian believes that "this is very inappropriate. For the twists and turns in understanding that have occurred in recent years and the retreat from the line of the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee , you can only choose one of the following two ways to deal with it: either avoid it, or make appropriate criticism. If this is not the case, but to maintain or even praise the inappropriate formulation, it will not only be detrimental to the Strengthening unity on the basis of clarifying understanding will also provoke disputes and confuse the thinking of cadres and the masses.”In addition, the manuscript also wrote, "We must see that the market is driven by partial interests and has its own weaknesses and negative aspects." Therefore, it is necessary to "combine the strengths of the plan and the market in the operation of the economy." Wu Jinglian also believes that It is very wrong, he said in the suggestion book, "The language used here is exactly the same as when he criticized the 'socialist market economy theory' in 1989~1990. Such an explanation of the history of the formulation will only make it become blurred, and even leave hidden dangers.” In his oral history in his later years, he said that the reason why he was so picky about the text in the opinion draft was to express it as clearly as possible, to eliminate ambiguities, and to block any possible repetitions. On October 5, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency conducted an exclusive interview with Wu Jinglian, and broadcast the press release "Public Ownership and Market Economy Are Not Incompatible—Interview with Economist Wu Jinglian" to the whole country. In the eyes of many observers, this seemed to be a preparation for the upcoming The conference held to warm up the theory and thought. On October 12, the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of China was held. In his report titled "Speeding up the pace of reform, opening up and modernization, and winning greater victories in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics", Jiang Zemin clearly stated that "my country's economic system The goal of the reform is to establish a socialist market economic system. So far, the systemic dispute between "market" and "planning" that has been repeatedly compromised and debated for more than ten years has come to an end. After a long period of sluggishness and chaos, China's reform has once again jumped up.