State Economy Led Early New China | Generated by AI

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Question: In the early period after the founding of New China, which economic component held the leading position?

Answer:

The correct answer is A. 国营经济 (State-owned economy / State sector).

Detailed Explanation

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, China entered the New Democratic society stage (新民主主义社会), which was characterized by the coexistence of multiple economic sectors:

Among these five sectors, only the state-owned economy was socialist in nature and was deliberately placed in the leading position by the Communist Party of China.

Key historical facts

  1. Confiscation of bureaucratic capital
    Immediately after 1949, the new government confiscated the huge assets of the “four big families” (Jiang, Song, Kong, Chen) and other bureaucratic monopoly capital. These enterprises were directly transformed into state-owned enterprises (国营企业).
    This formed the backbone of the socialist state-owned economy, which controlled:
    • Most modern industry
    • Banking
    • Railways
    • Postal services
    • Foreign trade
    • Major mines and heavy industry
  2. Official CPC documents and theory
    • The Common Program (1949) clearly stated that “state-owned economy is the leading force of the entire social economy.”
    • Mao Zedong repeatedly emphasized: “国营经济在整个国民经济中居于领导地位” (The state-owned economy holds the leading position in the entire national economy).
    • This leadership position was the decisive material basis for the state to carry out planned economy, control the economic lifeline, restrict and gradually transform capitalist economy, and prepare for the transition to socialism.

  3. Why not the other options?

    • B. 合作社经济
      Cooperatives (especially agricultural cooperatives) developed rapidly after 1953, but in the early years (1949–1952), they were still small in scale and not yet in the leading position.

    • C. 私人资本主义经济
      Private capitalism still existed and even received some encouragement in the early recovery period (1949–1952), but it was deliberately placed in a subordinate and restricted position, never the leading one.

    • D. 国家资本主义经济
      This mainly referred to various forms of state-private joint enterprises. It was an intermediate form used to gradually transform private capital, but it was not socialist in nature and could not occupy the leading position.

Summary

In the early years of New China (especially 1949–1952), the state-owned economy, established mainly through confiscating bureaucratic capital, was the only socialist economic component and was officially designated as holding the leading position among all economic sectors. This leadership laid the foundation for national economic recovery, controlling economic lifelines, and the later socialist transformation.

References:

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