For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Stock Number 5270-1451 JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE (Created pursuant to sec. 5(a) of Public Law 304, 79th Cong.) WILLIAM PROXMIRE, Wisconsin, Chairman SENATE JOHN SPARKMAN, Alabama J. W. FULBRIGHT, Arkansas CHARLES H. PERCY, Illinois JAMES B. PEARSON, Kansas LUCY A. FALCONE JOHN R. KARLIK HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RICHARD BOLLING, Missouri HALE BOGGS, Louisiana HENRY S. REUSS, Wisconsin MARTHA W. GRIFFITHS, Michigan WILLIAM S. MOORHEAD, Pennsylvania BARBER B. CONABLE, JR., New York BEN B. BLACKBURN, Georgia JOHN R. STARK, Executive Director Minority: GEORGE D. KRUMBHAAR, Jr. (Counsel) WALTER B. LAESSIG (Counsel) LESLIE J. BANDER (II) LETTERS OF TRANSMITTAL To the Members of the Joint Economic Committee: MAY 17, 1972. Transmitted herewith for use by the Joint Economic Committee, the Congress, and the interested public is a factual and analytical study of the economy of Communist China entitled People's Republic of China: An Economic Assessment. This is a compilation of invited papers designed to meet the interests of the committee and the Congress in an up-to-date body off actual data and interpretative comment on the state of the domestic economy of China, including the record of its recent experience in economic development, and its relations with the outside world. Early in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution the Joint Economic Committee released a pioneering, two volume assessment, entitled An Economic Profile of Mainland China. As the People's Republic of China begins to relate more with the world community through its membership in the United Nations it seems appropriate to supplement the earlier study by a presentation of information and analysis that has become available to the various Departments of the Federal Government in the past 5 years. At the present time, China, the largest nation in the world, remains both an enigma and a potential threat to world stability. Certainly, the Chinese economy is a subject of primary concern, and we have an obvious and compelling need of knowledge on the subject. This extensive compilation was organized by the staff in the hope that it will help to serve this need. It covers all of the major aspects of the Chinese economy and should provide a valuable source book for further committee studies of the subject. It is our intention to follow this study with hearings at which nongovernmental experts may testify thereby helping the Congress to obtain a clear view of what is taking place in China. Our earlier volumes provided a factual basis for better understanding of the economy of Communist China. We hope this volume will not only update this earlier effort but provide a current reassessment. The sources of information on China are even more limited now than during the earlier study. It is hoped, that this volume drawing on research in the Federal Government will serve as an aid and a stimulus to private scholars working on this subject. The committee is deeply indebted to the scholars from the Government who gave so generously of their time and expertise to the committee. They are listed in the executive director's memorandum to me, and I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the committee of expressing our gratitude for their invaluable efforts without which this study would not have been possible. Finally, we wish to take this opportunity to express our gratitude |