ECONOMIC CRIME IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: A HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE STUDY

Since 1978, economic modernization has been the national priority for the People's Republic of China. One obstacle the Chinese see hampering the realization of the "Four Modernizations" is economic crime. However, there have been few attempts to gather and analyze the large amount of information disseminated by the Chinese media on economic crime. Drawing predominantly on primary source materials, this study details the PRC's battle against economic crime from 1978 to the present. In order to make judgments about the nature, types, and treatment of economic crime in the PRC, economic crime in Imperial and Republican China, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam is briefly covered. China's cultural heritage, historical experiences, and its socialist political and economic system shape the nature and types of economic crime present in China today, and the methods and success of the PRC's fight against it.