About the Book: A Third Way
From 1949 to 1978, communist elites held clashing visions of Chinas economic
development. Mao Zedong advocated the "first way" of semi-autarchy
characteristic of revolutionary Stalinism (1929-34), while Zhou Enlai adapted
bureaucratic Stalinism (1934-53) to promote the "second way" of import
substitution industrialization. A Third Way tells the story of Deng Xiaopings
experimentation with export-led development inspired by Lenins New Economic
Policy and the economic reforms of Eastern Europe and Asia. Having uncovered an
extraordinary collection of internal party and government documents, Lawrence
Reardon meticulously traces the evolution of the coastal development strategy,
starting with special economic zones in 1979 and evolving into the