The secret of China's success

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao Tzu

An opium-addicted nation that remained under occupation by six foreign powers is now the world's second largest economy. How China managed to transform itself from a weak and fragile country to a global power house needs to be understood in the light of the Lao Tzu's quote above. It was under Mao Zedong that mainland China emerged as an independent country in October 1949. The policy of 'great leap forward' from late 1950s to early 1960s focused on reforming the country from an agrarian to an industrial economy.

Resilience, simplicity, efficiency, hard work, intelligence, integrity, commitment and dedication shaped China's road to modernisation which got an impetus during Mao's leadership and the 'open door policy' of Deng Xiaoping. Pulling 500 million people from below the poverty line by 1980s; focusing on industrialisation; augmenting exports; and planning to improve the quality of life of people shaped characteristics of the world's second most populous country. In the first decade of Communist China (1949-59), the Soviet Union was the principal backer of China. But following a rupture in their alliance and severance of assistance from Moscow, Beijing was on its own and succeeded in miraculously emerging as the world's second largest economy by 2015.

The secret of China's incredible success against all odds has another dimension: maintaining peace with its neighbours. The last war which China fought was in January 1979, with Vietnam. Since then it has not been in an armed conflict with any of its neighbours. Following the 1989 visit to Beijing of Mikhail Gorbachev, the then Soviet leader, and the collapse of the USSR, the relations between China and Russia transformed into being partners instead of adversaries. China's border issues with India barring the October 1962 war remained under control. Another secret of China's success is its concentration on 'soft power' with focusing on trade, aid, investments, technology and diplomacy instead of 'hard power' in the form of military intervention and armed conflicts. The Chinese leadership knows that its military involvement will jeopardise its vision to emerge as the world's biggest economic power. China wants to have peace with its neighbours so that it can focus on its economic progress and development.

China is not a perfect country and has its own fault lines like democracy, human rights, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang. For critics, the price paid by the people of China for their economic development and progress is democracy because Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the only party to rule the country - something that negates fundamental principles of democracy like political pluralism and multiparty system. CCP believes China cannot afford western democracy, as under a multiparty system, it may not remain in power which will open a Pandora's box like what happened in the wake of Gorbachev's policy of reforms in the then USSR. The issues of Tibet and Xinjiang as well as alleged human rights violations cannot be dealt with if CCP loses its control over power. For how long CCP and its powerful People's Liberation Army (PLA) will be able to deal with the fault lines in China depends on how strong the current leadership is and how success it is in retaining its strides in education, infrastructure, technology, research and development, communication, transportation and manufacture of exportable items.

China's secret of success against all odds is an interesting topic of discussion and needs to be analysed from three sides.

1) from an impoverished economy in 1949, China pursued a 'great leap forward' in 1960s and by following an open-door economy policy in late 1970s emerged as an economic power by 2000. Within a span of 21 years, China used its human resource to compete with other global economies. For instance, in 1979, China's foreign exchange reserves were around 1 billion dollars, per capita income was 270 dollars and GDP was 139 billion dollars. In 2025, China's foreign exchange reserves are 3.2 trillion dollars, per capita income is 25,000 dollars and GDP is 18.5 trillion dollars. If China maintains the pace of its economic progress and development, it will surpass the US as the world's biggest economy. China's miraculous turnaround in just 50 years is an example for other countries, particularly Pakistan, to follow. During 1960s and 1970s, Pakistan was ahead of China in terms of per capita income, economic growth rate and foreign exchange reserves. PIA was the only non-communist airline to fly to Communist China. But, after just 40 years, China is now far ahead of Pakistan.

2) Chinese leadership focused on domestic production instead of importing items. For decades, Chinese way of life was simple whereas Pakistan was an import-driven economy and relied on foreign loans. When China was able to emerge as a successful economy, only then it allowed imports of luxury items. The same policy was pursued by India too. Not an import-driven economy, India adopted a policy of self-reliance. The lesson Pakistan can learn from the Chinese success is: peace with neighbours; focus on exports; self-reliance; and investment in education, health, infrastructure development, housing and public transport to life the quality of life of the public. Planning, time management and efficiency are major characteristics of the Chinese leadership. The CCP has a zero tolerance for corruption and nepotism.

3) Maximum use of human and natural resources is another major reason behind China's success. Pakistan is the world's fifth most populous country whereas China is second from top. However, Chinese population is not a liability, it's an asset. When Communist China, despite its international isolation and the conflict with the then USSR, was able focus on human and social development, it worked wonders. Till late 1970s, China was not even a part of the Olympics, but now it is known for its best performances in global sports. All in all, it is the leadership that matters in the context of progress and development of a country.