A market economy based on central planning
A decision on economic restructuring adopted unanimously by the 12th CPC Central Committee at its third plenary session in October 1984 defined China’s socialist economy as a market economy based on central planning and public ownership. Such an economy differs from a full market economy in that it is a socialist economic system based on public ownership of the means of production and relies on planning, as well as market mechanisms, to regulate the production and exchange of goods. The decision pointed out that full development of a market-oriented economy was an inevitable step in China’s social and economic development and a prerequisite for economic modernization. It added that central planning and a focus on market mechanisms and development of a market economy were not mutually exclusive, but could be mutually complementary, and that it was wrong to pit one against the other. This new understanding replaced a previous formula that assigned central planning a leading role and market mechanisms a supporting role. The change represented a clear departure from the traditional dichotomy of planned economy versus market economy and a breakthrough in socialist economic theory. It significantly enriched socialist economics and scientific socialism, expanded the realms of these theories, and provided a solid theoretical foundation and an overarching guiding framework for China’s economic restructuring. It mapped the future direction for economic restructuring, marked an important step towards building a market economy, and paved the way for developing a theory of socialist market economy.
The 13th CPC National Congress defined the new socialist market economy system based on central planning as one that integrates the role of planning and that of the market, with the government regulating the market and businesses responding to market signals. Guided by this new approach, restructuring gathered new momentum.
有计划的商品经济
1984年10月，党的十二届三中全会一致通过《中共中央关于经济体制改革的决定》，明确提出“社会主义经济是在公有制基础上的有计划的商品经济”。有计划的商品经济相对于完全由市场调节的经济而言，即在生产资料公有制基础上，自觉运用和依据价值规律，对商品生产和交换进行计划调节的社会主义经济体制。决定还指出，“商品经济的充分发展，是社会经济发展的不可逾越的阶段，是实现我国经济现代化的必要条件”，“实行计划经济同运用价值规律、发展商品经济，不是互相排斥的，而是统一的，把二者对立起来是错误的”。这一提法改变了以往“计划经济为主，市场调节为辅”的表述，表明中国共产党改变了以往在经济建设中将计划经济同商品经济对立起来的传统认识，是对传统社会主义经济理论的重大突破，极大地丰富和发展了社会主义政治经济学和科学社会主义，为中国的经济体制改革提供了科学的理论依据和总的指导思想，构成经济体制改革纲领的理论支柱。这一论断指明了中国当时阶段经济体制改革的方向，是国家经济建设从以往的计划经济向市场经济迈出的关键一步，为日后社会主义市场经济理论的提出做了铺垫。
此后，党的十三大把社会主义有计划商品经济的新体制界定为计划和市场内在统一的体制，并提出“国家调节市场，市场引导企业”的经济运行模式，中国经济体制改革进一步走向深入。