Portrait: AI-generated imagined likeness
Politician · revolutionary
Chinese political leader. After Mao Zedong, China promoted reform and opening up, incorporating elements of a market economy. He is a man who greatly changed the direction of modern China.
View in catalogBeijing
Work
Reform and opening up
1978
Political event · Leader
Map: Natural Earth (PD)
Born in Sichuan Province, he studied and worked in France at a young age, and joined the communist movement. Through the Chinese Communist Party's revolution and civil war, he gained experience in both military and party organization.
Since 1978, he has led reform and opening-up policies, promoting rural reform, special economic zones, and opening up to the outside world. He set out a pragmatic policy that emphasized economic development rather than ideology.
He is known for the saying, ``Whether it's a white cat or a black cat, it's the best cat to catch mice.'' This is a widely used expression that symbolizes the emphasis on policy effectiveness.
Deng Xiaoping's reforms deeply connected China to the global economy and laid the foundation for rapid growth. On the other hand, it leaves open the limits of political reform, and is an important case for considering the relationship between economic development and one-party rule. It also provides clues for thinking about the relationship between institutions and people.
