The 1992 Southern Tour is widely regarded as a critical point in the modern history of China, as it saved the Chinese economic reform as well as the capital market, and preserved societal stability.

During the southern tour, Deng emphasized to several military leaders of the People's Liberation Army including Yang Shangkun, Liu Huaqing and Yang Baibing, that "those who do not promote reform should be brought down from their leadership positions", forcing Jiang Zemin, then General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), to support and continue the Reforms and Opening-up program.

[citation needed] Globally, the breakup of the Soviet Union and the rise of neoliberalism intensified debates over the sustainability of market-oriented policies, with some questioning the East Asian model.

[citation needed] Facing opposition from party conservatives who feared these policies might weaken socialist principles, Deng launched the Southern Tour to reaffirm his commitment to reforms and steer China’s economic trajectory.

[22]: xxiii–xxiv Members of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) showed serious disagreements over whether the Reforms and Opening-up program should continue after Deng Xiaoping ordered the military crackdown on 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

[7] As a result, the Reform and Opening-up program came to a virtual halt, especially after the Revolutions of 1989 in Europe and around the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the CCP shifted its focus to preventing the "Peaceful Evolution" from the West.

[28] Starting from the spring of 1991, Shanghai-based newspaper Liberation Daily published a series of articles under the author name of "Huang Fuping (皇甫平)", promoting further economic reforms, which quickly gained support amongst local officials and populace.

[33] The author of the article, local journalist Chen Xitian, had been the only print media reporter permitted to join Deng and his party during the visit to Shenzhen.

[22]: 48 Around 9am on January 19, 1992, Deng Xiaoping arrived in Shenzhen, one of China's first special economic zones (SEZs) approved by himself, and was warmly received by local officials including Xie Fei, the Communist Party Secretary of Guangdong Province.

[31][22]: 64  In the morning of January 22, Deng visited the Fairy Lake Botanical Garden together with his wife, children and grandchildren, planting a tree there; in the afternoon, Deng delivered his famous lines to the officials of the Shenzhen government:[31][37][15]"[The Shenzhen government] should be bolder in carrying out the Reforms and Opening-up, dare to make experiments and should not act as women with bound feet.

[11] He also paid visits to several high-tech companies in Zhuhai, where he underlined the importance of science and technology and called on Chinese overseas students to come back to their motherland.

[31] In Shanghai, Deng visited the Nanpu Bridge on February 7, and on the next day he toured the Huangpu River on a cruise ship, accompanied by local officials including Huang Ju and Wu Bangguo.

Although there was a debate on whether or not Deng actually said it,[43] his perceived catchphrase, "To get rich is glorious (致富光荣)" unleashed a wave of personal entrepreneurship that continues to drive China's economy today.

Behind the scenes, Deng's southern tour aided his reformist allies' such as Shanghai party committee secretary Zhu Rongji climb to the apex of national power, and permanently changed China's direction toward economic development.

[35]: 84  According to journalist Jonathan Chatwin, the southern tour was effective not because there was consensus at the top levels of the Party, but because news of his speeches empowered local officials to express their support for these ideas to central authorities.

[56] During his Southern Tour, Deng's visits to cities like Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Shanghai underscored the success of Special Economic Zones as symbols of China’s reform and opening-up policies.

In his remarks, Deng emphasized prioritizing economic growth over rigid ideological partisanship, declaring, “Development is the only hard truth.” However, party conservatives criticized this approach as a betrayal of socialism, warning of risks such as inequality and corruption.

[38][39][40][41] Moreover, his insistence on economic openness aided in the phenomenal growth levels of the coastal areas, especially the "Golden Triangle" region surrounding Shanghai.

Deng reiterated the general policy that 'some areas must get rich before others', and asserted that the wealth from coastal regions will eventually be transferred to aid economic construction inland.