[Epoch Times, June 24, 2021]Recently, the planned economy was resurrected strongly by the Chinese Communist Party. The “supply and marketing cooperative”, known as the last remnant of the planned economy, will begin to carry out experiments under the leadership of the government next month. Some media and legal professionals are deeply worried about this historical regression, but they dare not say anything because of public opinion control. There are also Maoists who pointed out that the measure is the official preparation for the shortage of materials in the closed country.
According to a report by Radio Free Asia, the four departments of the China Supply and Marketing Corporation, the Central Agricultural Office, the People’s Bank of China, and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on the Development of the Pilot Trinity of Production, Supply and Marketing, and Credit Integration” at the beginning of this month. The document states that the government will begin piloting the economic model of “production, supply and marketing, credit, and the “triad”” in July, and the goal is expected to be completed within two years.
Free Asia reporters called the China Supply and Marketing Cooperatives to find out, but the agency refused to respond. Turning to the Sichuan Provincial Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, the person in charge surnamed Wang confirmed that the government is indeed fully restoring the supply and marketing cooperatives at the township level. It is just that the name of the organization, the main body of the legal person, and the right of jurisdiction are different from the supply and marketing cooperatives in the planned economy period.
According to reports, the “Opinions” have been quietly issued in the form of red-head documents to the supply and marketing cooperatives in various regions in the middle of this month, and the notice requires them to “implement and make solid progress” in accordance with the “Opinions.”
Regarding the “supply and marketing cooperative” model, Ms. Zheng, a media person within the system, said that this is a manifestation of Xi Jinping’s own will. It is also the resurrection of the planned economy that was originally abandoned by the government after the official announcement of the regulations on supply and marketing cooperatives in 2019. But because of its sensitive nature, apart from intellectuals expressing concern, no media is willing to discuss it.
The incident has also caused controversy in the Chinese legal profession, and many lawyers have expressed concern about it. A lawyer from Shandong pointed out that the incident reflected the country’s future political trends. He said that the planned economy has proved to be a complete failure in the history of the economy, and this retrogressive approach is worrying.
However, some domestic Maoists welcomed the “supply and marketing cooperatives” coming back out of the arena. Maoist media person Chen believes that this is a preventive measure. He pointed out that once Chinese society and the outside world decouple, or fall into a shortage of materials, when a high level of official deployment is required, the supply and marketing cooperative system can be put to great use.
After the outbreak of the Sino-US trade war, the reconstruction of the official-controlled “supply and marketing cooperative” system was put on the agenda. In October 2019, the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives drafted the “Regulations on Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (Draft for Comment)” to solicit opinions from the society. However, due to widespread criticism from the outside world and even the revival of zombies ridiculed by the planned economy, local governments have been taking a wait-and-see attitude towards this.
The planned economy is also called the command economy. The allocation of resources, including what to produce and how much to produce, are determined by government plans. After the establishment of the Communist Party of China in 1949, the planned economy began. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee in December 1978, China began to implement reform and opening up. The following year Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun mentioned for the first time the notion that planned economy and market economy are not contradictory.
Editor in charge: Liu Yi
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