also known as Export Processing Zones, they are areas of the country that are allowed to implement incentives designed to attract foreign investment by firms that will produce goods for export. Such incentives may include tax holidays, low rents, guaranteed supply of materials and utilities, and inexpensive labor. The benefits to the host country include job creation and the transfer o technology and management skills. China’s first SEZs were established in the early 80s, followed by a rapid expansion of similar “open cities” and “development zones” in many parts of the country, but especially along the coast. Three of these were in Guangong Province and the other was in Fuijan Province

The Southern Inspection Tour, or Southern Journey, undertaken by Deng Xiaoping in 1992 to investigate firsthand the situation in China’s most economically dynamic region in Guangdong province, bordering Hong Kong. Deng concluded that China needed to make economic reform and opening to the world its highest priority again after a period of retrenchment following the Beijing Massacre of 1989

the official population policy of the PRC since 1979. It stipulates that, with some exceptions, couples may have only one child. The policy has been implemented in various stages and by various means, ranging from coercion to monetary fines to education. China’s population growth rate has decreased dramatically, but there is debate about whether it was the one-child policy or other factors that were the primary cause of fertility decline. The policy has also had important unintended consequences such as a sex ratio imbalance (missing girls) and a rapidly aging population in terms of the percentage of people over the age of 65, which will put a strain on China’s woefully inadequate pension, welfare, and health care system. 

or bingtuan, established in the early 1950s as places to live and work for demobilized soldiers and their families; designed to promote economic development and Han settlement in the far western region of China inhabited by Uyghurs. Bingtuan were initially mostly farms directly under the control of the PLA. They are now largely civilian organizations and are involved in a wide range of economic enterprises. 

the principle, first enunciated by Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s and agreed to in essence in the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, under which Hong Kong became a special administrative region (SAR) of the PRC. This meant that, although Hong Kong would become part of the PRC, socialism would not be implemented there, and its capitalist system and way of life would not be changed for fifty years. The principle also applies to Macao, the other SAR of the PRC. It has been proposed by the PRC as the basis of an agreement for reunification with Taiwan, but Taiwan has not shown any interest in those terms.

8^th Party Congress

The 8^th party congress regarded class struggle in china.  It was related to “personality count,” which refers to the country not being controlled by a dictator as it was under Chairman Mao.   The 8^th party congress collectively led China. MORE ON THIS ONE THIS IS A SHITTY ONE

1959 Lushan Conference

In 1959 the Chinese Communist Party convened for a meeting in Lushan.  During the meeting, Chairman Mao indicated that he intended to make improvements to the Chinese economy which had greatly suffered during the Great Leap Forward.  During the conference, Mao also called for an open discussion of the other problems facing the Chinese government.  The Lushan Conference was very influential in the history of the CCP because, though Mao was continuing to put pressure on his colleagues, he was recognizing and addressing the many problems in China.

People’s Commune

The people’s commune refers to a movement in china that occurred in 1958.  The people’s commune movement virtually eliminated private property in the Chinese countryside and created larger forms of collective living.  The movement also promised a quick transition to full communism within a few years.   The people’s communes continued to be the highest unit of economic and social organization in the Chinese countryside until the 1980’s.

Red Guards

“Red Guards” refers to an organization of students committed to carrying out Mao’s call for a “Cultural Revolution.”  They first emerged in Beijing high schools and universities in 1966.  However, they soon became nationwide movement.   The Red Guards engaged in violent, dangerous clashes until, in 1968, Mao decreed that order must be restored and the Red Guards were disbanded.

The Lin Biao Affair

Tried to escape china but his plane mysteriously crashed, his death is still a mystery and his case hasn’t really been looked into.  Major beneficiary of the cultural revolution, supposed to be mao’s successor but he denied the offer.  Conspiracy theories that mao plotted his death.   People started making about big deal about his death and started following him.  Tension arose.  

The Gang of Four

The Gang of Four was a named that Mao Zedong gave to his wife and three of her colleagues.   These four were given this name as a warning to stop their secretive factional maneuverings within the CCP.  In 1976, the“Gang of Four” was arrested and put on trial for their political crimes.  After their arrest, the name was made public as a part of a campaign of their denunciation.  

Hu Jiantao’s “Harmonious Socialist Society”

The leader of the CCP and the PRC, Hu Jianto, believed in a “Harmonious Socialist Society.”  This society reflects the proclaimed policy goals of his administration.  It emphasizes correcting many of China’s political and economical issues.  The society focuses on helping with issues of income and development inequalities, especially between city and country, environmental degradation, and the collapse of the health care system.

National People’s Congress 

The National People’s Congress is the national parliament or legislature of the PRC.  According to the PRC constitution, the NPC has significant powers.  In recent years, the NPC has been active in shaping legislation and serving as a forum for discussion of important issues.  The NPC still operates within the framework of the CCP; it is not a truly independent branch of government.  

Household Responsibility System 

A basic form of organization in China’s rural economy.  In this system, individual households contract for “use rights” to the land, which is still owned by the village, and families make the decisions about crops, investment, savings, labor allocation, and marketing. There were brief experiments with this type of organization in the aftermath of the Great Leap Forward, but they were stopped by Mao, who regarded them as a “sprout of capitalism.”