Outcome: A Mixed Package

In assessing the socioeconomic performance of the People’s Republic during the first 30 years of its existence, we employ some of the commonly accepted indicators, such as the economic growth rate and the human development index. In doing so, moreover, we evaluate specific development strategies in terms of their success or failure in achieving the goals they were designed to achieve. Catching up to the West, industrialization and national independence were the major objectives of the development strategies in China after 1949. From this perspective, the results appear mixed.