Reimagining the Chinese Economy Through Sino-Japanese Engagement in the 1980s

Japan’s rapid post-war economic growth prompted China to look to its neighbor as Deng Xiaoping carried out market reforms during the 1980s. How did transnational flows of people and ideas between China and Japan occur, and what was their impact on Chinese policy-making? This chapter identifies multiple mechanisms of engagement—including exchanges, examples, and joint projects—and analyzes how each affected Chinese policy-making. Through empirical analysis of the China-Japan Economic Knowledge Exchange and its development of a joint dictionary of economic terms, it investigates key topics in bilateral discussions about the economy; the interests and goals of Chinese and Japanese participants; and the challenges of conceptual translation and innovation during a period of profound change. Intense engagement between China and Japan in the early Reform Era generated neither unilateral “diffusion” nor unitary influence. Instead, it reveals how China forged its own path of economic development through “policy collaging”: seeking out, selecting among, and creatively combining policy ideas and practices from abroad.