EDITORIAL

A Significant Experience for the Future of Humanity:

The Political Economy of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

The political economy underlying the People’s Republic of China's development trajectory since its founding in 1949 remains one of the most widely analyzed issues in contemporary scholarship. The experience of socialist construction under the leadership of the Communist Party of China constitutes a distinctive case that warrants systematic and rigorous academic analysis.

In the twenty-first century, China has emerged as one of the world’s leading economies and has played an increasingly significant role in shaping global economic and political dynamics. Its development model, described as "socialism with Chinese characteristics," has also rekindled discussion of alternatives to the dominant patterns of market-led development and neoliberal globalization. These developments underscore the importance of examining the structural features of China’s system from a political economy perspective, avoiding both normative bias and reductionist interpretations.

Against this background, several key questions arise:

* How should the stages of socialist construction be conceptualized in light of historical and comparative experiences? What criteria determine the sustainability of socialist political authority and the continuity of socialist-oriented development? Within this framework, how should China’s current developmental stage be assessed?

* How should China’s “socialist market economy” be evaluated in relation to its institutional structure and outcomes? To what extent are market mechanisms compatible with socialist development, particularly when considered in light of both historical and contemporary experiences?

* How should China’s position within the global capitalist system—and its points of tension and interaction with that system—be theoretically conceptualized?

* To what extent do China’s economic and social transformations offer insights of broader relevance? What lessons, if any, can be drawn for other countries, including Türkiye, in terms of development strategies and institutional design?

Two Chinese contributions that explicitly address these issues are presented in this issue by BRIQ: an academic piece by Prof. Dr. He Ganqiang and a chapter translated from a Chinese-language book by Prof. Dr. Xinhua Jian, two well-known Marxist political economists. Both academics have a wealth of experience in political economy and have made significant contributions to discussions of China's socialist development.

It is anticipated that these contributions will enrich ongoing theoretical and empirical discussions in the field. BRIQ therefore invites political economists in Türkiye and internationally to engage with these issues and to contribute original, high-quality research within this broad analytical framework.

 

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.