Xue Muqiao was born in the waning years of the Qing Dynasty
(1644–1911). In the 1930s, while China was in the grip of civil
war, he conducted groundbreaking research into rural poverty. In
the '50s he was an economic policy assistant to the country's
highest decision-making body and in 1979 he published works widely
regarded as the seminal guide to China's market-oriented
makeover.
On Thursday, the 101-year-old Xue was named one of the first
four winners of the China Economics Prize for his creation of the
open-door, trade-with-all policy and for suggesting that farmers be
allowed to own the land they till and work unfettered in the
cities.
Xue, together with Ma Hong, 85, Liu Guoguang, 82; and Wu
Jinglian, 75, were all key figures in helping China launch its
market-oriented reforms. Each of the four was given 300,000 yuan
(US$36,000) in prize money at Thursday's ceremony.
At the award presentation, Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan said that
China's breathtaking economic transformation of the past 26 years
was in part due to the prizewinners' contributions. He singled Xue
out for praise as one of the fathers of China's economic research
and as a devoted and creative educator.
Ma was cited for his suggestions to restructure China's economy
at a stable pace, while Liu was selected for his theories
concerning the government's role in the market economy.
Wu was honored for giving substance to state-sector reform by
"breaking the iron rice bowl," a system that guaranteed lifelong
employment and perks like housing but led to inefficiency. He is
also known for encouraging private investment and
entrepreneurship.
"I accept the award as recognition of the efforts made by our
generation of economists during China's reform process," said Wu,
who still works as a researcher with the State Council Development
and Research Center.
"We still have a long way to go to perfect the legal system in
China's market economy," said Wu. "Only by matching the rule of law
with the market economy can we achieve total success."
The China Economics Prize, newly established by the China
Macroeconomics Institute and China Society of Economic Reform,
encourages and rewards scholars who have made outstanding
contributions to economic theory, policy and research.
(China Daily, China.org.cn March 25, 2005)