grew remarkably, accounting for as much as 70 percent of China's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2005. From 1978 until 2013, unprecedented growth occurred, with the economy increasing by 9.5% a year. The conservative Hu Jintao's administration regulated and controlled the economy more heavily after 2005, reversing some reforms. On the other hand, a parallel set of political reforms were launched by Deng in 1980, which also inspired the then Soviet Union's Glasnost and Perestroika, but eventually ended in 1989 due to the crackdown on Tiananmen Square protests, halting further political liberalization. The success of China's economic policies and the manner of their implementation resulted in immense changes in Chinese society in the last 40 years, including greatly decreased poverty while both average incomes and income inequality have increased, leading to a backlash led by the more ideologically pure New Left. In the academic scene, scholars have debated the reason for the success of the Chinese "dual-track" economy, and have compared it to attempts to reform socialism in the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union; as well as to the growth of other developing economies. Additionally, these series of reforms have led to China's rise as a great power and a shift of international geopolitical interests towards China, especially in matters relating to the ambiguous political status of Taiwan. Nevertheless, matters such as corruption, pollution and a rapidly aging population remain serious issues that the Chinese government has to tackle. Some analysts have also added that the reform era has been scaled down significantly during the leadership of current CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping when the reformists lost power, citing that Xi has reasserted state control over different aspects of Chinese society, including the economy. Course of reforms Origin In September 1976, Mao Zedong died, and in October, Hua Guofeng together with Ye Jianying and Wang Dongxing arrested the Gang of Four, putting an end to the Cultural Revolution. Hua's break with Cultural Revolution era economic policies was consistent with the 1975 reform agenda of Deng Xiaoping. Hua made national economic development a matter of the highest priority and emphasized the need to achieve "liberation of productive forces." He "combined Soviet-style big push industrialization with an opening up to the capitalist world" and under his leadership, China opened its first Special Economic Zone and launched major efforts to attract foreign direct investment. Economic reforms began in earnest during the "Boluan