Reform is China's Second Revolution

Part of Deng Xiaoping's Speech on March 28, 1985 when he met with Vice President of Japan Liberal Democratic Party. Contained in Vol. 3 of Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping. The talks emphasized the necessity and firmness of reform, pointing out that reform is China’s second revolution. Our principle is to be bold, take a confident step and then look around carefully before taking another step, our policy is firm, and we are not going to change it. The talks expounded the universality and arduousness of the reform. It took three years for the rural reform to show results. As the overall reform involving both urban and rural areas is more complex, we think it will take five years to show results. In the process, we are bound to make mistakes, and problems are bound to arise. The crucial thing is to review what we have done and correct every wrong step promptly. The policy of opening up domestically and internationally will not change. The reform we are undertaking is the continuation and extension of that policy. To reform we need to continue to open up. At a national conference on scientific and technological work not long ago, when I was speaking about the implementation of the open policy, I stressed the need for ideals and discipline. Some people think that since China is emphasizing the importance of ideals, that means it is going to close its doors again. That is not true. We are soberly aware of the possible negative effects of the open policy and will not ignore them. Nevertheless, our principle is not to close but to continue to open. We may open even wider in the future. Some commentators abroad say that China’s current policy is irreversible. I think they are right.