How did they do it?

During the US-Vietnam conflict, Deng Xiaoping a high ranking member of the Communist Party visited Singapore to discuss on Cambodia’s involvement with the then Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Deng Xiaoping expected to find another hamlet just like rest of Asia at that time but was surprised to find a developed city. He discussed the details with Lee Kuan Yew and was convinced capitalism was the way to build an egalitarian society (Reference). He went back and instead of attempting to redo the whole system which might not have been accepted by the Political system and population (Mikhail Gorbachev tried to open USSR up with Perestroika and Glasnost which failed miserably and led to the dissolution of USSR) . He set up a SEZ (Special Economic Zone) Shenzhen next to Hong Kong. To encourage Hong Kong entrepreneurs to set up enterprises there. The concept was a hit and many other SEZs were set up  to and China’s Economy grew rapidly.