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SepAs an Arabic proverb goes, “seek knowledge even unto China”. Nowadays, the West begins to follow suit.
This began with admiration. A few years ago, Friedman, a New York Times columnist, pointed out that “when the reality needs, Chinese leaders can promote the development of the country’s long-term strategy by amending laws and regulations or setting new standards and upgrading the infrastructure. But it takes years and even decades for Western countries to discuss and execute the same.”
Then, admiration turned into inspiration. Former Western politicians repeatedly told the truth, praising China whilst inspiring Western leaders in power. Schmidt, former Chancellor of Germany, said that the sustained successful development of China had not only solved China’s problems, but also inspired the West to get out of predicaments. Perez, former President of Israel, also stated that from a poor country to an independent one and then to a prosperous one, China was realizing the Chinese dream and taking a Chinese path. China’s unique development model is playing a positive role in inspiring and stimulating the resolution of many problems in the Middle East, such as poverty, unemployment, underdeveloped education and technology.
Today, the West not only says, but also does so; it learns from both practices and reforms of China. For example, Trump has declared to set up the Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence and granted a subsidy of USD 100 billion to private enterprises such as Facebook and Google for 5G development. The EU is learning from China’s industrial policies and Japan is learning from China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)…
Why does the West choose to learn from China’s reform? What is it learning? And what does this mean?
Why does it learn from China? A stark contrast exists between chaos in the West and stability in China, between the decline of the West and the prosperity of China and between the bearish market in the West and the bull market in China. Instead of feeling embarrassed to learn, it would be ashamed not to learn.
In comprehensively deepening reform in an oversized society, China has not only managed to ensure no economic crisis for 40 consecutive years, but also become the major pillar of world economic growth following the global financial crisis, knocking the socks off the West. China has also made a difference by bringing forward initiatives and ideas such as the BRI and a community with a share future for mankind, which the West indeed could not come up with. Having a good understanding of the logic and China’s strategic intent behind such initiatives and ideas is also pushing the West to learn from China. Another motive of such learning is that the West is worried about competition from China. It wants to figure out the steps to be taken by China next or the secrets of China’s success, so as to better deal with China—learning from the Chinese to compete with them.
Why does the West learn from China? Another reason is that there is no mainstay country or region in the West. Trump is pursuing the “America First” policy, for which he has withdrew the U.S. from a number of international organizations and treaties, squandering soft power of the U.S. and placing both the establishment and allies of the U.S. into anxiety.
What is the West learning? It is learning from China’s governance, innovation and finally systems.
When it comes to China’s national governance, for example, the problem of Xinjiang, the Westerners are surprised at how China could make it. Unemployment, poverty, corruption and wealth gap are also the problems facing the West, so Westerners intend to learn from China’s experience.
The West is also learning from China’s innovation. China’s reform has become an important choice to increase its competitiveness and even innovations in the civilization, rather than merely being geared to international standards. For example, China ranks only second to the U.S. in respect of R&D investment, with artificial intelligence (AI) and big data developing fast. Merkel paid a visit to Wuhan a few days ago, and she had been to Shenzhen and Shenzhen over the past two years, which cities are all active in innovation. Through these visits, Merkel is not only seeking new investment opportunities, but also learning from China’s digital revolution.
Some Western countries are also learning from China’s policies and systems. During the 73rd United Nations General Assembly last year, Rockefeller Foundation organized a special side event, where I was invited to introduce the BRI and foreign aids offered by China. Europe once learnt from China’s civil service system and now is interested in China’s household registration system.
It is quite a paradox that in spite of its eagerness to learn from China, the West has been criticizing China—and what it has criticized for is exactly what it wants to learn. In other words, what Westerners have accused China of is the greatest competitiveness of China in their eyes, and they hope that China would give up that, so as to maintain Western competitiveness. For instance, the EU has positioned China as a “systemic rival” and introduced a strategy on Europe-Asia connectivity, with an aim of incorporating the BRI. The U.S., Japan and Australia are also promoting infrastructure construction and improvement of people’s livelihood in Indo-Pacific region and learning from China’s industrial policies to offset the impacts of the BRI.
What the West is learning from China is what it has forgotten. Learning from China is to resume its original intention. Industrial policies, state-owned enterprises, subsidies…all these are what China has learnt from the West. The term the People’s Republic of China is also a Western concept except the word China. Actually, China is a Western concept as well.
Western Christian civilization, market economy model and governance model are declining in marginal utility and even reach the end of the rope, so the West has to learn from China’s reform. Western countries are drawing on the experience of China, whether readily or reluctantly, actively or passively. Learning itself is a process of innovation, not imitation. Learning is more than a merit, but also the source of competitiveness.
It is normal that we may feel a little uncomfortable and worry about being fooled or surpassed if the West learns from us. We are still learning from the world and drawing on all outstanding achievements of human civilization to reform and perfect our systems and modernize our governance capacity and system.
“The trend of the world is like a roaring river. Those who follow it will prosper; those who resist it will perish,” exclaimed Dr. Sun Yat-sen a century ago. Forty years ago, Deng Xiaoping asserted that “abstention from reform and opening-up is a dead end”. Reform has become the only option for China to integrate itself into the mainstream international community and release the vitality of its systems and people’s creativity by grasping opportunities brought by globalization; it is the source of system competitiveness. As stated by General Secretary Xi Jinping, “reform and opening-up is a key move that determines the fate of contemporary China and whether China can attain the ‘two centenary goals’ and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
In the face of such great changes that have never been seen over the past century, with both development models and international rules varying, no one dares to tout himself as absolutely correct. Globalization is no longer a given condition and is inherently uncertain. Whilst helping redevelop China’s international comparative advantage, reform itself is the largest international comparative advantage of China. The mission of comprehensively deepening reform, in the near term, is a solution to sharp challenges facing China in all respects; in the medium term, it can help redevelop China’s international comparative advantage; and in the long run, it will establish China as a world leader. Here are the motives of the West to learn from China: firstly, drawing on China’s experience to solve problems at home; secondly, keeping a close watch on China due to the fear of being surpassed by China.
In fact, in learning from China’s reform, the West still rests on reform of implements, less systems and rarely the spirit level involved. The West might not be able to learn China’s spirit of reform in its real sense, that is, the cultural deposit of “day by day making it new” and the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, which is what it needs most to learn.
Chapter 49 of Tao Te Ching is a good explanation of the people-oriented governing philosophy:
The Sage has no decided opinions and feelings, but regards the people’s opinions and feelings as his own. The good ones I declare good; the bad ones I also declare good. That is the goodness of Virtue. The honest ones I believe; the liars I also believe; that is the faith of Virtue. The Sage dwells in the world peacefully, harmoniously. The people of the world are brought into a community of heart, and the Sage regards them all as his own children.
From westward spread of Eastern cultures and eastward spread of Western cultures to today’s mutual learning between the East and the West and even integration of the East and the West and of the South and the North, a community with a shared future for mankind is taking shape. We sincerely expect that the world is one of mutual learning between civilizations and innovation in civilizations beyond the differences in ideology and traditional values, regardless of whether or not it is the East or the West, body or function, eastward or westward spread, and will make concerted efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
Wang Yiwei: Distinguished Research Fellow at National Academy of Development and Strategy, Professor of School of International Studies, Renmin University of China
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