A Hungarian model for China? Sino-Hungarian relations in the era of economic reforms, 1979–89

Abstract

In the wake of the introduction of the Chinese reform and opening up policy in 1978, the Beijing leadership paid special attention to the Hungarian experience with its reform of the economic management system. This article argues that although it is hard to identify single measures within the complex system of Chinese economic reforms that can be labelled as Hungarian in their origins, reference to a reform community proved to be an effective tool for Beijing’s leaders to emerge from isolation in the socialist bloc, rally international support, and strengthen domestic legitimacy for their reform agendas throughout the 1980s.