Zhu Rongji

As premier from 1998, Zhu pressed the restructuring of China's state-owned enterprises, building on decisions made before he took office. The programme sought more commercially disciplined firms and reduced the state's direct involvement in many smaller enterprises while retaining control of major companies. It belongs here as a change in how markets and state ownership interacted, not a wholesale retreat of the state. Restructuring also carried substantial employment and social-protection consequences.