Deng Xiaoping's southern tour (), or 1992 southern tour (), or simply Nanxun () was the tour of Deng Xiaoping, the third paramount leader of China, in southern China, including in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Guangzhou and Shanghai, from 18 January to 21 February 1992. The talks and remarks made by Deng during the tour resumed and reinforced the implementation of his reform and opening up program in mainland China, which had come to a halt after the military crackdown on 1989 Tiananmen Square protests ordered by Deng himself.
At the time of the tour, Deng held no formal position in the Party or the government, having resigned as Chairman of the Central Military Commission in November 1989. However, he still held soft powers in the Party as an active and influential political figure. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 had further strengthened conservative leaders within the CCP, such as Chen Yun, who argued that market-oriented reforms risked destabilizing Communist Party rule in the same way that liberalization had contributed to the Soviet collapse. This political environment forced Deng to build support for his reform agenda outside of Beijing, relying on local provincial allies and sympathetic military figures rather than working through the central party apparatus. After Tiananmen Square incident, there was a lack of belief in the Chinese Communist Party both at home and abroad. The United States and European Union both issued arms embargoes while the World Bank and Asian Development Bank stopped issuing loans to China. The 1992 Southern Tour is widely regarded as a critical point in the modern history of China, as it saved the reform and opening up as well as the capital market, and preserved societal stability. It not only preserved stability inside of China, but it was reassuring to foreign countries who had begun to invest large amounts of money into China.
During the southern tour, Deng emphasized to several military leaders of the People's Liberation Army, including Yang Shangkun, Liu Huaqing and Yang Baibing, that "those who do not promote reform should be brought down from their leadership positions", forcing Jiang Zemin, then General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), to support and continue the reform and opening up program. He also wished that Guangdong province would catch up with the Four Asian Tigers in terms of economic development within 20 years. Some of the notable remarks and comments from Deng during the tour included "I don't care if the cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice" (cat theory), which was originally published by him in the 1960s, and "development is of overriding importance ()" as well as "[the Shenzhen government] should be bolder in carrying out the Reforms and Opening-up, dare to make experiments and should not act as women with bound feet".
However, although Deng himself mentioned that anti-corruption must be imposed throughout the entire reform and opening up process and emphasized the importance of rule of law, the Southern Tour did not resolve the corruption issue as well as the widening economic inequality in China, nor did it resume China's political reforms: "Scholars have noted that the development model accelerated by the Southern Tour widened the gap between China's prosperous coastal regions and its underdeveloped interior, a disparity that persists today. The tour's legacy is therefore mixed: while it produced remarkable GDP growth, it also entrenched structural inequalities that the CCP has struggled to address in subsequent decades."
Historical background The aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests had created a conservative backlash within the Chinese Communist Party, significantly slowing down the reform and opening up.Zhao, Suisheng (1993). "Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour: Elite Politics in Post-Tiananmen China". Asian Survey. 33 (8): 739–756. Globally, the breakup of the Soviet Union and the rise of neoliberalism intensified debates over the sustainability of market-oriented policies, with some questioning the East Asian model. Facing opposition from party conservatives who feared these policies might weaken socialist principles, Deng launched the Southern Tour to reaffirm his commitment to reforms and steer China's economic trajectory. Beginning in late 1988, the economic reforms favored by Deng were increasingly resisted by other Chinese leaders.
Halt of reform and opening up
Members of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) showed serious disagreements over whether the reform and opening up should continue after Deng Xiaoping ordered the military crackdown on 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. After reformist leader Zhao Ziyang was forced to leave his position as the CCP General Secretary for his sympathetic stance on students' protests, Jiang Zemin was appointed the succeeding General Secretary with the support from several powerful left-wing conservatives leaders (also known as hardliners) including Chen Yun and Li Xiannian.
In November 1989, the CCP Central Committee passed a resolution ("") stating that the pace of reforms was too fast, and decided to overhaul the changes. There were fears and concerns within the CCP that further reforms may turn China into a capitalist country. As a result, the reform and opening up program came to a virtual halt, especially after the Revolutions of 1989 in Europe and around the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the CCP shifted its focus to preventing the "Peaceful Evolution" from the West. Deng Xiaoping, on the other hand, saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union as more of a reason to open.
Media debate Starting from the spring of 1991, Shanghai-based newspaper Liberation Daily published a series of articles under the author name of "Huangfu Ping ()", promoting further economic reforms, which quickly gained support amongst local officials and populace. On the other hand, several Beijing-based media outlets including Qiushi and Guangming Daily, which were under the control of Jiang Zemin and Li Peng (then Premier of China), responded by directly criticizing Huangfu's articles on Liberation Daily, questioning whether China was following a capitalist path or a socialist path.
The tour
At the age of 87, Deng Xiaoping began his southern tour on 18 January 1992 when he visited the Wuchang District of Wuhan in Hubei Province as well as Changsha in Hunan Province. He then visited several cities in Guangdong Province, including Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Guangzhou from 19 to 29 January. After that, he briefly stayed in Jiangxi Province, and on 31 January Deng arrived in Shanghai, the last stop of his southern tour. After spending the 1992 Chinese New Year in Shanghai, Deng briefly visited Nanjing in Jiangsu Province as well as Anhui Province on his way back to Beijing on 20 February.
Family members from three generations of Deng's family traveled with him on the southern tour, including four of his five children, his wife Zhuo Lin, and several grandchildren. The most publicly prominent of his family members on the tour was Deng Rong. Deng Xiaoping's longtime secretary Wang Ruilin also accompanied him on the tour.
Media coverage Initially, Deng's southern tour was ignored by Beijing and China's national media, which were then under the control of Deng's political rivals. Jiang Zemin, then General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party since 1989, showed little support. Many mainland news sources didn't publish anything about Deng's trip, and it was reporters from Hong Kong who first made reports on the trip. Media in Hong Kong first reported Deng's tour after receiving confirmation from Shenzhen government, while Shenzhen Special Zone Daily later gave a detailed report on Deng's southern tour in an article on 26 March 1992, without receiving approval from the China's central government, making it the first media in mainland China to do so. The author of the article, local journalist Chen Xitian, had been the only print media reporter permitted to join Deng and his party during the visit to Shenzhen.
The first public record from Deng's tour was a photograph of him during his 21 January visit to the China Folk Culture Village which was taken by Malaysian Chinese tourists and published 22 January by a Hong Kong newspaper.
Eventually, Deng Xiaoping won against the left-wing conservatives, and under enormous pressure from the military, Jiang Zemin and others changed their stance and gave in to Deng. As part of Deng's Southern Tour, the results of market reforms were broadcast widely on television.
Wuhan Wuhan was Deng's first stop. On January 17th, Deng Xiaoping, Deng Nan, and others departed from Beijing on a train with no news reporters or passengers; however, three cameramen from the Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio were present. At 10:31am on January 18th, Deng Xiaoping’s train arrived at Wuchang Railway Station and was greeted by Guan Guangfu (CCP Committee Secretary of Hubei), Guo Shuyan (Governor of Hubei Province), and Qian Yunlu (CCP Chief of Heilongjiang and Guizhou; Governor of Guizhou Province). After conversing, Deng Xiaoping re-boards his train for his next stop: Shenzhen. After Deng Xiaoping’s departure, Guan Guangfu, Guo Shuyan, and Qian Yunlu converse and record Deng Xiaoping’s notable remarks from their earlier conversation.His remarks were summarized in four key ideas. 1) China can only be saved through the means of reform and opening up. 2) Development is the absolute principle; one should not get bogged down in debates over socialism versus capitalism. 3) Economic development must be maintained at a certain pace. 4) Leftist ideology exerts a pernicious influence; anyone who fails to implement reform must step down.
Changsha On January 18, at 4 PM, Deng Xiaoping’s train arrived at the Changsha Railway Station and was stopped for a brief 10 minutes. During this short stop, Deng Xiaoping was greeted by Xiong Qingquan (CCP Committee Secretary; Governor of Hunan Province) and was delivered a report on the situation in Changsha over the past year. During this brief stop, Deng Xiaoping expressed concerns to Xiong about the slow pace of economic development and warned against over-caution in reform efforts.
Shenzhen
Around 9 am on 19 January 1992, Deng Xiaoping arrived in Shenzhen, one of China's first special economic zones (SEZs) approved by himself, and was warmly received by local officials including Xie Fei, the Communist Party Secretary of Guangdong Province. Deng's visit to Shenzhen highlighted it both for its rhetorical power and practical example in support of Deng's favored economic policies.
In his discussions with party officials about SEZs, Deng stated that while there had been differing opinions on the operations of SEZs and whether they were capitalist, Shenzhen's development illustrated that they were consistent with socialism. Deng stated that those who viewed SEZs as part of a movement towards capitalism "lacked basic knowledge". In Deng's view, Shenzhen should welcome additional foreign investment.