Chinese economic reform

The Chinese economic reform or Chinese economic miracle,^[1][2] also known domestically as reform and opening-up (Chinese: 改革开放; pinyin: Gǎigé kāifàng), refers to a variety of economic reforms termed "socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of China (PRC) that began in the late 20th century, after Mao Zedong's death in 1976. Guided by Deng Xiaoping, who is often credited as the "General Architect", the reforms were launched by reformists within the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on December 18, 1978, during the "Boluan Fanzheng" period.^[3][4][5][6] The reforms briefly went into stagnation after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, but were revived after Deng Xiaoping's southern tour in 1992.^[7] The reforms led to significant economic growth for China within the successive decades; this phenomenon has since been seen as an "economic miracle".^[1][2][8][9] In 2010, China overtook Japan as the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP,^[10][11] before overtaking the United States in 2016 as the world's largest economy by GDP (PPP).^[12] On the other hand, a parallel set of political reforms were launched by Deng and his allies in the 1980s, but eventually ended in 1989 due to the crackdown on Tiananmen Square protests, halting further political liberalization.^[13][14]