The rise of China to become the world’s second-largest economy within a relatively short period has been one of the defining developments of modern history. Its growing economic and geopolitical influence has profoundly reshaped global relations. At the same time, the enormous size and potential power of the Chinese working class raise fundamental questions about its future role in shaping the class struggles to come, both in China and internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Left forces around the world have struggled to understand this process. Under Deng Xiaoping, beginning in the late 1970s, the Chinese regime moved away from the planned economy of the Mao era in favour of market relations. While only a small section of the left continues to argue that the planned economy essentially remains intact and that China is still on the road to socialism, most debate has centred on other questions. Has capitalist restoration been completed in China? What is the class character of the Chinese state? Or does China represent a peculiar form of state capitalism?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI), these questions were discussed and debated over many years. They were debated at international meetings and in numerous written contributions, including in *Socialism Today*, the theoretical magazine published by the Socialist Party in England and Wales. Below is a selection of articles and book reviews that contributed to this discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The collection also includes some articles written by those who argued that capitalism had already been fully restored in China and who later left the CWI during the 2019 split. The CWI leadership argued that the character of the Chinese regime remained one in transition and that, at this stage, it represented a peculiar hybrid formation. In some documents the formulation “a peculiar form of state capitalism” was also used, reflecting a compromise arrived at during the course of the debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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