The Chinese Communist Party and the Policy of Foreign Economic Openness

The article analyzes the process of growing understanding in China of the need to turn from the primacy of “self-reliance” to the gradual opening of the country, seeing as the development of large-scale diversified economic relations with the outside world. The role of China’s leaders of various periods in this process is shown. It is revealed that the main pillars and “engines” of the policy of foreign economic openness of the People’s Republic of China were the course of modernization of the country and the active struggle against the leftist ideology. Deng Xiaoping played a prominent role in both trials. The main achievements of the People’s Republic of China in the field of foreign economic openness at various stages of the implementation of this policy are briefly shown. In contrast to expectations in the West, the turn to the market and foreign economic openness was not accompanied by political reform and democratization of the country in accordance with the Western model. Beijing often states, that China realizes her own model of consultative democracy which meets national characteristics. Under Xi Jinping, the role of the ruling Communist Party in all spheres of the country’s social and political life has been significantly strengthened, and the promotion of the “Chinese way of development” as a possible model for some developing countries has intensified. In the context of increasing Western pressure on China, Beijing, according to the author, can make some indirect concessions in the foreign economic sphere, but not in the political system. At the same time, China is building up its own development potential for key high technologies.