EDITORIAL

A Significant Experience for the Future of Humanity The Political Economy of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

The dynamics that have enabled the extraordinary development of the People’s Republic of China, founded in 1949, are among the most widely debated issues in the world today. The historical experience accumulated by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China in the process of socialist construction constitutes a unique and invaluable case that merits systematic scholarly examination. Having become one of the fastest-growing economies in the twenty-first century, China has also played a role in constraining the global dominance of hegemonic forces. At the same time, through a socialist system that has raised its population's living standards, China has emerged as a powerful alternative to neoliberal globalization and the capitalist free-market model. In this context, it is a fundamental task to analyze the foundations of China’s system from a political-economic perspective, free of prejudice and dogmatic frameworks.
As a starting point, the following questions may be posed:
•    In light of historical experiences, how should the stages of socialist construction be understood? What criteria determine the continuity of socialist political power and socialist construction in a given country? Given its long development process, at what stage can China be situated within this framework?
•    How should China’s “socialist market economy” be evaluated together with its outcomes? Are the market and socialism mutually exclusive categories? When past and contemporary socialist experiences are considered, how should the use of the market as an instrument in the process of socialist construction be interpreted?
•    How should China’s specific position and contradictions within and in relation to the global capitalist-imperialist system be conceptualized?
•    China’s economic, social, and international achievements have dimensions that are both specific to China and of relevance to humanity as a whole. What fundamental lessons can the world, and Türkiye in particular, draw from the Chinese experience in shaping their own paths of development?
In this issue, BRIQ presents two significant contributions that seek to address these questions, written by two prominent veteran political economists of China, Prof. Dr. He Ganqiang and Prof. Dr. Xinhua Jian. The first is a Chinese-language article by Prof. Dr. He that offers a critical assessment of the practices of China's socialist market economy. The second is the introduction to Prof. Dr. Xinhua’s book, originally published in Chinese, Research on Major and Difficult Issues in Socialist Political Economy with Chinese Characteristics. 
Prof. Dr. He and Prof. Dr. Xinhua are two historically significant figures who belong to the pioneering generation of the Chinese Revolution from its earliest years. Their life trajectories—from agricultural and factory labor to academic careers—have encompassed all the major turning points of the Chinese Revolution, and they have been active participants in the key debates of their time. It is expected that these contributions will make an important addition to the ongoing theoretical and political discussions on this subject.

FİKRET AKFIRAT
Editor-in-Chief

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BRIQ Vol.7 Issue:2

Contents

Abstract

This article argues that Chinese-style modernization can only advance in a sustainable and socialist direction under the scientific guidance of Marxist political economy. It contends that Western neoliberal and Keynesian paradigms are structurally incompatible with the theoretical foundations of the socialist market economy and constituted a central cause of the historical failure of Soviet “reform.” Grounded in historical materialism, the study emphasizes the determining role of production relations and ownership structures in the process of social reproduction. It demonstrates that the weakening of public ownership as the leading economic force generates income polarization, structural imbalances, and macroeconomic instability. The article further conceptualizes the socialist market economy as a dialectical unity between public ownership–based production relations and market circulation mechanisms. Within this framework, Marx’s theories of reproduction, capital accumulation, and value are presented as the scientific basis for macroeconomic governance, property relations, and China’s strategy of economic opening in the process of modernization.

Abstract

This article examines socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics as a coherent theoretical system grounded in Marxist political economy and continuously reshaped through China’s historical practice. The study conceptualizes China's economic model as a dialectical development of Marxist theory under specific national and global conditions. It analyzes the core categories, methodological principles, and value orientations of this framework, with particular attention to the theoretical significance of the socialist market economy as an innovative synthesis of market mechanisms and socialist relations of production. The article further discusses how concepts such as people-centered development, common prosperity, and high-quality growth extend traditional political economy beyond industrial-era assumptions. By emphasizing theory–practice interaction and historical materialism, the study argues that socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics constitutes a distinct paradigm that enriches contemporary political economy and expands the explanatory scope of Marxist economic theory.
 

Abstract

This study argues that many of Africa’s contemporary structural problems stem from the enduring legacy of colonialism, which has profoundly shaped social structures, cultural values, and post-colonial development strategies. Colonial rule was characterized by violence, racial discrimination, land expropriation, resource exploitation, and the systematic denial of political rights and cultural autonomy to indigenous populations. These historical dynamics continue to influence state fragility and external dependency. The article is organized into three sections. The first examines the internal roots of foreign intervention by analyzing the impact of colonial legacies on post-colonial state crises. The second conceptualizes Africa as a major arena of global power competition, emphasizing its role as a source of raw materials and a site of proxy conflicts. The final section discusses strategic and institutional measures African states can adopt to confront and manage external interference.
 

Abstract

This paper investigates the domestic political underpinnings of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), arguing that domestic dynamics are crucial to the implementation and outcomes of international development cooperation, particularly the BRI’s politicization. The study explores the increasing risks associated with the BRI in ASEAN, identifying openness of the public policy process, domestic political divisions, and external power dynamics as key drivers of politicization. Previous studies tend to focus solely on the results of country-to-country projects, while partially ignoring the domestic dynamics of the countries targeted by the projects. Indeed, donors are usually more sensitive to aid projects than recipients, leading them to ignore the projects’ environments when negotiating policy priorities. A theoretical framework is developed to define politicization, distinguishing between issue continuation, instrumental politicization, and ideological politicization. A mechanism involving contact, differentiation, mobilization, and solidification is proposed to explain how international development cooperation integrates into domestic political contexts. The “impossible trinity of development cooperation” is introduced as a framework for understanding the challenges of international development cooperation in the Global South.
 

Abstract

This article argues that the United States utilized Adolf Hitler’s war against the Soviet Union as a proxy war to combat socialism. While publicly maintaining neutrality and later becoming an ally, US capitalists systematically supported fascist regimes in Europe—particularly Nazi Germany—politically, economically, and technologically from the 1920s onward. Major American corporations, including Ford, General Motors, IBM, and Standard Oil, provided crucial military supplies, technology, and financial services to the Wehrmacht, enabling Hitler’s blitzkriegs and war of annihilation against the USSR. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), dominated by Wall Street and serving as Hitler’s war bank, facilitated the transfer of looted gold and resources while maintaining extraterritorial operations throughout World War II. The US only provided limited Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union after Stalingrad, delaying the opening of a second front until 1944. Post-war, the US protected Nazi collaborators and continued using the BIS for anti-communist economic restructuring through the Marshall Plan, demonstrating that the primary American objective was not defeating fascism but destroying the Soviet Union as the main enemy of capitalism.
 

Abstract

In the election for the upper house on July 20,  2025, the Sanseito Party achieved a significant success in Japan. There is one more difficulty on the side of the Sanseito Party, as its populist purpose provides no reason to ally with the Communist Party. The same applies to other countries, such as Germany, France, England, and the Netherlands, among others. Exclusionism of the newly emerging “far-right parties” cannot be shared by the communists. If the communist parties want to form an alliance with them, they will lose many of their supporters. However, under the situation of Trump’s America First strategy, JCP has an objective role to strengthen its anti-US characteristics. In this case, JCP and the Sanseito Party will compete with each other to be more against the US. By identifying the similarities and differences with the political situation seen in Western countries, we must explore the direction we should take.