Media in China After Economic Reform

Abstract

The Economic Reform in China, known as Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, was launched by Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping in 1978. He had given the idea to modernise the country's agriculture, industry, technology and military. The post-Mao leadership including Deng had many challenges. Due to the failure of the Great Leap Forward, mass feminine and then the Cultural Revolution, the whole country was exhausted. Economic Reform had allowed the new leadership to overcome the past hurdles. They introduced many changes in various sectors including the economy, foreign relations and media. After the chaos and anarchy of the Cultural Revolution and strict and suffocative policies and control in the Mao period, the media in China saw a sense of freedom, both on managerial and financial levels. Also, the idea of self-sustaining media houses gave a kind of confidence in terms of financial dealings and content selections. Though the media in China had remained under the control of the party and state, as a result of reform policies it had witnessed a massive growth. This paper explains the growth and changes in the media sector after economic reform in China.

Keywords: China, media, economic reform