Ma Hong (; May 18, 1920 – October 28, 2007) was a well-known economist and was chiefly responsible for the reintroduction of

market economics A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand. The major characteristic of a mar ...

to China. He also pioneered Policy Consultation and chaired a government

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

Early life

Ma was born in

Dingxiang County Dingxiang () is a county in the north central part of Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, on 18 May 1920. Ma Hong took part in Ximenghui in 1936, an organization of resistance against the Japanese. The following year he was involved in the organization of the General Trade Union of Tongpu Railroad, and in that same year joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP). In 1938, he went to

Yan'an Yan'an; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi Province of China, province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several c ...

, then the CCP

revolutionary base area In Mao Zedong's original formulation of the military strategy of people's war, a revolutionary base area (), or simply base area, is a local stronghold that the revolutionary force conducting the people's war should attempt to establish, starti ...

, and won Chen Yun's (Minister of Organization) favor. As a result, he was admitted into the

Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Party School is a higher education institution that trains Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres. It is located in Haidian, Beijing, close to Summer Palace and Old Summer Palace. The current president is Chen Xi, a former member ...

. After graduation in 1941 Ma Hong was assigned to be a researcher in the CCP's Central Research Institute, laying the foundations of his later economic knowledge. He was transferred the CCP's Northeast Bureau to be the director of the Policy Research Office in 1949. Through investigation Ma Hong wrote "The Structure and Policy of the Northeastern Economy", and divided it into five sectors. This method was long employed by the Chinese government. In 1952 Ma Hong was promoted to the post of General Secretary of the National Planning Committee of the Central Government. During the Gao-Rau Incident, Ma Hong was purged and demoted. He came to work in the National Economic Committee and was involved in the drafting of the "70 Industrial Regulations", which helped China recover from the

Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward was an industrialization campaign within China from 1958 to 1962, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Party Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to transform the country from an agrarian society into an indu ...

. After co-composing the regulations Ma Hong wrote the "Management of Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises", which became the compass of industrial management at that time.

Later years

In 1978 Ma Hong's career rebounded and he founded the Industrial Economic Institute, becoming its director. He then became the president of the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese state research institute and think tank. It is a ministry-level institution under the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The CASS is the highest academic institution and c ...

and Deputy General Secretary of the

State Council of the People's Republic of China The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the e ...

. In 1984, at his suggestion, "the notion of a socialistic commercial economy was written into the CPC's list of doctrines." Ma Hong founded the State Council Development Research Centre, the first of its kind. Late in his career he warned the government of impending inflation, but the government chose to ignore his advice to its detriment. Ma Hong has published more than 10 books in Chinese; ''New Strategy of Chinese Economic Development'' has been translated and edited by Fengbo Zhang and was published in Japan in 1985. His writings have been widely publicized, and in 2005 he won the Outstanding Economist Prize. On October 28, 2007, he died of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

References

People.com
(Chinese)
Fengbo Zhang
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Hong 1920 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Chinese economists People from Xinzhou Economists from Shanxi 20th-century Chinese writers Writers from Shanxi Members of the Standing Committee of the 7th National People's Congress Delegates to the 13th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party Delegates to the 14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party Alternates of the 12th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party