Changing Central-Local Relationships in the Post-Socialist China

Abstract

“Due to China’s vast territory, huge population, and social-economic complexity, the heading of China’s central-local relationship has gone to vary heart of Chinese politics”(Jia and Lin, 1994). In China’s long process of dynamic changes of central-local relationship, centralization and decentralization have profound effects on the development of Chinese economy, culture and society. A high level of centralization was implemented, despite Mao’s slogan of“socialism”. Administrative system had experienced several waves of decentralizations only in nominal form until the marketization after the Maoist era. In post-socialist China, dramatic change of central-local relationship has taken place and has experienced several waves of centralization-decentralization debate since the late 1970s. It also resulted in the transition of Chinese government-led economy to