1989 and the advent of an Authoritarian state capitalism in China[L'impact de « 1989 » sur l'avènement d'un capitalisme d'Etat et autoritaire en Chine]

When the Chinese government celebrated with great pomp the 30th anniversary of the launch of economic reforms in December 2008, the period from 4 June 1989 to the XIV Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October 1992 was passed completely silent. Chinese media, and more importantly, the economic analysis from Chinese academics have introduced economic reforms as a quiet "long river". Yet the reality is far removed from this linear presentation, non-confrontational and teleological. The political crisis following the student movement of spring 1989 and the collapse of the USSR, had a profound impact on the path of economic reforms and structuring of Chinese capitalism. Certainly, a number of adjustment measures in the reforms that were put in place after June 4, 1989, would certainly due to be adopted even if the camp of the reformers had won. However, other choices could have been favored by Chinese leaders. The analysis of the impact of this period on the decisions taken by the economy of reform in leadership appears crucial to understanding the current face of Chinese capitalism. We believe that the impact was felt mainly in four areas that we discuss in this chapter and which constituted a large part of the economic system reform program endorsed at the 14th CPC National Congress in the fall of 1992.