The dual-track price system can be said to be a very unique approach adopted by China in the process of institutional transformation.

Without exception, all countries in the transition to the system have encountered major problems in the process of price liberalization. From the fifties to the eighties of the last century, a series of countries in Eastern Europe were in turmoil on this issue.

Drawing lessons from this, China has adopted a transitional approach, starting with liberalizing the prices of some products and retaining some of the planned prices for the time being. This is first and foremost from the perspective of expanding corporate autonomy.

In 1982, with the approval of the State Council, the overproduced crude oil of Daqing Oilfield was sold at 644 yuan per ton in China, and the overproduced crude oil of other oilfields was sold at 532 yuan per ton. At that time, the state price of crude oil produced under the plan was 100 yuan per tonne. The income from the price difference between high-priced oil and parity oil is used as an "exploration and development fund" to make up for oil exploration and development. These special measures on oil prices have become the source of the implementation of a dual-track price system for the means of production of industrial products.

On May 10, 1984, the State Council issued Document No. 67 (i.e., Article 10 of the Expansion of Powers), which stipulated that after the completion of the prescriptive plan, the excess production part of the enterprise was allowed to float within the range of no more than 20% of the planned price.

In January 1985, the State Council issued Document No. 17, which simply abolished the 20% limit: the price of the excess part was freely negotiated by the supply and demand, and the state did not interfere. In this way, there are two prices for the same product, the planned part is the planned price, and the overproduced part is the market price.

In the event of short supply, the market price is significantly higher than the planned price.

Two prices for the same commodity, this is what people call "dual-track prices". The part that is liberalized is the market price. With the market price track, the rigid situation in which the command plan dominates the world has been broken, and economic life has been revitalized.

But this approach to reducing the pains of reform has also come with many "by-products". The "official downfall" has appeared, which has contributed to the rise in prices.

According to market research, from January to May 87, the number of companies operating the means of production and industrial products that were directly subordinate to the relevant departments approved by the relevant provincial and municipal committees, offices, departments and bureaus, as well as the commercial wholesale enterprises that actually operated in the name of "consulting" and "development", increased significantly.

Nominally, these government-run companies are "independent accounting," but in fact they are all backed by the relevant leading departments, and they are engaged in overt decoupling and covert decoupling.

Zhou Aifu was dumped to Lao Maozi's Soviet Union as a fallen master before, and his role and significance were completely different from those of the official downfall. Zhou Aifu's actions not only expanded the vitality of the domestic economy and increased the income of enterprises, but also increased the international influence and supported the socialist countries.

And what Yang Quan thought of at the moment was Chen Yuehai, who participated in the development of Qiongcheng together, as the young master of Genzheng Miao Hongdi, Chen Yuehai could cooperate. But Yang Quan was worried about luring the wolf into the house, if Chen Yuehai took the opportunity to come in, how could he defend himself without resistance?

The price reform is nothing more than a labor pain, and it will pass all at once after gritting my teeth and enduring it. And when an enterprise enters foreign capital, does it still have its own right to speak?

This has to be guarded against.

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In late May 1988, the then responsible person of the central government drew up a reform plan, and the general direction of price reform was that the prices of a few important commodities and services should be managed by the state, and the prices of the vast majority of commodities should be liberalized and regulated by the market. It will take about five years to initially straighten out the price relationship.

The general requirement of wage reform is: In the process of price reform, through raising and adjusting wages and appropriately increasing subsidies, we will ensure that the actual living standards of the majority of workers and workers will not be lowered and that they will be able to improve along with the development of production.

In mid-August, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held in Beidaihe approved a price and wage reform plan.

The price situation in 1987 was no longer optimistic. On the basis of the 7.3 per cent increase in the previous year, the consumer price index rose month after month in 1988, reaching 19.3 per cent in July.

At a time when prices have risen sharply and inflation expectations have been formed, the central authorities have suddenly proposed to carry out price and wage reforms.

As a result, on 17 August 1988, the Politburo meeting adopted a plan for price and wage reform, and as soon as the communiqué was published the next day, it immediately caused panic among urban residents, set off a nationwide run on and rush to buy commodities, and prices rose sharply.

Despite the differences of opinion, the highest levels of the central government finally made up their minds to break the price barrier in 1988. Since April, a series of reform measures have been introduced.

On April 5, the State Council issued a notice that the price subsidies for four non-staple foods, namely pork, fresh eggs, sugar, and vegetables, were changed from hidden subsidies to open subsidies. In the past, the state provided financial subsidies to the business sector to keep the prices of these four non-staple foods low. Now supply the inhabitants and at the same time liberalize the price. As a result, the price of pork has increased by 50%-60%, and the price of fresh vegetables has increased by 31.7%.

"Toilet paper is available in limited quantities, one roll per person a month, how can it be enough!" the old lady in Peking complained. When the people from other places came to Beijing to hear this kind of discussion, they were angry and added three points: "You still have a volume in January, what do we use when we come to Beijing to go to the toilet?"

This is the real scene that happened on the streets of the capital when the fourth "toilet paper crisis" occurred in Beiping around April this year.

As early as the 50s, the "toilet paper crisis" occurred in Peking for the first time, and Premier Zhou was anxious for the people's urgency and wrote instructions to solve the toilet paper problem. In the "toilet paper crisis" in the 70s, Comrade Xiannian personally inquired about it.

In 1986, around the National Day, toilet paper in the capital market was in a hurry again, and the retail price had to be raised from 0.15 yuan to 0.20 yuan per roll. However, 16 months later, the "toilet paper crisis" struck again.

This crisis has been more intense and long-lasting than in the past. Residents are running around to buy a roll of toilet paper. By the end of March, toilet paper had been sold out in a large area in the suburbs of the capital, and even medium-to-high-grade toilet paper with five or six corners and a roll was hard to find.

Toilet paper has also become a central topic of discussion among residents of the capital. Out of desperation, Peiping had to make a temporary decision: toilet paper should be supplied in limited quantities.

The price increase starts with matches. Around the Spring Festival this year, the output of JX's eight designated match production plants generally declined, and matches were in short supply in urban and rural markets. On March 1, some food and industrial product price adjustment measures were introduced, and some self-employed people took the lead in raising the price of matches, and some state-run and collective stores soon followed suit.

At the same time, some manufacturers took advantage of the shortage of matches and also took the opportunity to increase the ex-factory price of matches. A match factory in Nanchang sells more than 300 pieces (1,000 boxes each) of matches at retail prices, and when these matches enter the market, they are sold to consumers at a higher price.

The price of matches has risen, causing a chain reaction. As a result, tobacco and alcohol, vegetables, stockings, milk powder, coal products, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc., from food and clothing goods to school fees, bicycle parking fees, and even repair fees and service fees at individual stalls, have risen one after another.

In NC City, the most serious detour price increase is for coal products. There is also the case of stockpiling for sale. Some commercial enterprises take advantage of their monopoly position to hoard commodities in short supply before the price adjustment and put them on the market after the price adjustment, taking advantage of the time difference to gain the price difference.

When the wind of price increases blows, the rush to buy is often accompanied. And blindly rush to buy regardless of product quality, simply put, you need to buy it if you have it.

An employee of the supply department of Shancheng Mining Machinery Factory spent 1,950 yuan to buy a Hangzhou/Zhouzhou Xihu brand refrigerator in Shipingqiao No. 1 Construction Company Labor Service Company, which had no warranty or manual, and was used for less than three days, and cracks appeared inside, and even repaired nowhere to find it.