The brainchild of late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, the programme was ratified at a Communist Party conclave on December 18, 1978, breaking with the chaotic policies of his predecessor, Chairman Mao Zedong. China now boasts the most dollar billionaires in the world with 620, according to Shanghai-based magazine publisher Hurun Report. The commemoration comes as China is locked in a bruising trade war with the United States in which the two sides have exchanged tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods. Wu said the trade war could be a chance for China to enact more changes. When the party enacted the reforms, China was still suffering from famine and was emerging from the Cultural Revolution, a period of intense social and political upheaval launched by Mao.

Source: Philippine Star December 18, 2018 02:26 UTC