Meanings
- The mainland Chinese policy for the reunification of China as one country, with areas like Hong Kong, Macau and (unilaterally and prospectively) Taiwan with separate economic and political systems.
The principle of “one country, two systems” was first proposed by Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s as way to reconcile the communist mainland with historically Chinese territories—Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau—that had capitalist economies.
2017 June 29, “Has “one country, two systems” been a success for Hong Kong?”, in The Economist, →ISSN
Origin
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 一國兩制 /一国两制
- 一國兩制 /一国两制 (yī guó liǎng zhì)slogan for the reunification of China as one country
German ein Land, zwei Systeme
- ein Land, zwei Systemeslogan for the reunification of China as one country
Japanese 一国二制度
- 一国二制度 (ikkoku ni seido)slogan for the reunification of China as one country
Vietnamese một quốc gia, hai chế độ
- một quốc gia, hai chế độslogan for the reunification of China as one country
Cite this entry
one country, two systems. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one%20country%2C%20two%20systems
“one country, two systems.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one%20country%2C%20two%20systems. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “one country, two systems,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one%20country%2C%20two%20systems.
Source: one country, two systems on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.