The Socialist Era of Oil Self-Sufficiency (1949–1977)

Abstract

During the PRC’s early years the development of the oil sector was heavily influenced by revolutionary fervour, ideological campaigns and the nationwide drive for rapid industrialisation. The oil industry became a locus for these ideational and structural forces to the point where the Maoist innovations achieved within this sector became the model for national industrial development across all economic sectors. For the first thirty years of its history the PRC pursued a vision of socialism that entailed a centrally planned economic system, and the development of a massive socialist industrial complex through direct government command and control. Naughton (2007: 55) labels China’s development strategy during this time ‘Big Push industrialisation’, because the overwhelming priority was to channel the maximum amount of resources and investment into heavy industry. Hence the Big Push strategy shaped virtually every aspect of the Chinese economy. The command economic model, based on the system created in the Soviet Union under Stalin, was adopted in order to implement this strategy. Under this system of economic governance the central party-state directly allocated resources, set production targets and controlled the pricing system.