This article offers a concise overview of the economic reforms enforced by the Chinese Communist Party since 1978 and their impact on Chinese class relations. Three phases are distinguished within the reform process: 1978–1992 (dissolution of the people’s communes, introduction of the household responsibility system); 1992–2002 (major privatisations, investment in industry and infrastructure, intensification of rural-urban migration); and 2002 to the present (consolidation of China’s position as a global economic player, intensification of migrant worker unrest).