
	Inheritance Tradition's Legacy Socialist Foundations Revolution to Reform The roots of China’s recent boom extend deep into its imperial and communist past. But tradition’s legacy is a complicated one. To achieve modern development, China had to throw off the “yoke” of traditional society. Yet the long traditions of centralized government administration, kin-based entrepreneurism, and value placed on education and diligence prepared the Chinese well for capitalism. Despite catastrophes like the Great Leap Forward and the famine in its wake, Mao Zedong’s nation building efforts between the founding of the PRC in 1949 and the unleashing of the Cultural Revolution in 1966 laid socialist foundations for the subsequent boom. Even the disastrous, decade-long Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution contributed to the boom: By eroding public support for radical politics, the ground was cleared for a transition from revolution to reform—for new policies that were gradualist, internationalist and capitalist.

The Cultural Revolution Was Devastating

Period: Inheritance (Pre-1978)

It's All About the Rural Household
Deborah Davis
Reform Could Not Have Happened Without Mao
Cui Zhiyuan
Gender Empowerment in China is a Big Advantage
Pallavi Aiyar
China’s Leaders Embraced Reform to Stay In Power
Philip P. Pan
Cultural Revolution Raised Mass Support for Reform
Wang Yong
The Cultural Revolution Was Devastating
Zhang Jingjing
China's Commercial Spirit Has Not Been Lost
David Wei
China Was Already Very Strong Before the Reforms
Jin Canrong
Land Reform Was a Necessary Evil
Chen Ping
The Cultural Revolution Broke All Patterns of Restraint
Robert Oxnam
The Cultural Revolution
Akio Takahara
China’s Growth is Like a Slingshot
Trevor Houser
An Opportunity to Question the Whole Existing System
Luo Yan

Zhang Jingjing

Deputy Director, China Program, Public Interest Law Institute

Zhang Jingjing is deputy director of the Public Interest Law Institute's China Program. Committed to justice and strengthening the rule of law, Zhang is one of China’s leading public interest lawyers. An outspoken environmental advocate, she represents pollution victims in law suits and promotes public participation by helping communities organize public hearings on environmental rights and licensing processes.

Zhang has won milestone cases in the Chinese courts, including the first successful environmental class action suit in China, against a chemical company that discharged toxic substances in Fujian Province. She has been frequently featured in the media for her pioneering work. Formerly director of litigation at the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims, she is currently deputy country director of the Public Interest Law Institute’s China program.

She was selected by Asia Society to join the Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative in 2010.