On the Fundamentals of a Successful Reform for National Prosperity¡ªAn Economic Analysis Based on the Practice of China¡¯s Reform

This paper discusses the fundamentals required for successful reform, i.e., the necessary institutional changes required to make a nation grow sustainably wealthier. It argues that enriching the people is a prerequisite for a prosperous nation and further reveals the inherent logic behind the statement ¡°in order to enrich the people, they must be given private rights, and in order to protect the people¡¯s private rights, public power must be limited.¡± Based on this argument, we examine and analyze the experience of China¡¯s reform over the past 30 years and come to the conclusion that it is necessary to transform government functions and further deepen market-oriented reform. We hold that China¡¯s economic performance bears no special or exceptional economic law, and there does not exist the so-called ¡°China Model¡± characterized by government taking the leading role as a relatively mature, stable, and widely applicable development model, but that there does exist a Chinese development path or experience featuring the inherent logic of ¡°prospering the nation through enriching its people¡± that can be employed by countries all over the world.