Decoding‘Chinese Modernization’

By Yu Miaojie

Chinese modernization is Chinese wisdom that contributes to world economic development

Over the last 73 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China,China has made remarkable achievements in economic development to become the world’s second largest economy.After decades of exploration,China has gradually solidified its economy aiming to maximize the interests of the people and serve their happiness.

As the fundamental guideline for China’s economic development in the new era,Xi Jinping’s economic thought emphasizes a people-centered approach.Chinese economics as typified by Xi’s economic philosophy is essentially economics seeking happiness for the people.

Chinese Path to Modernization

The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) explained Xi Jinping’s economic thought in detail.

The Chinese modernization is modernization of a huge population,of common prosperity for all,of material and cultural-ethical advancement,of harmony between humanity and nature,and of peaceful development,stated the report.“From this day forward,the central task of the Communist Party of China will be to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in concerted efforts to realize the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.” “To build a modern socialist country in all respects,we must,first and foremost,pursue high-quality development.”

China now faces changes of a magnitude not seen in a century.And the impact of COVID-19 over the last three years has left the global economy sluggish.Against this background,the proposition of Chinese modernization has the following implications:

The container terminal at Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai.(VCG)

First,emphasis is on economic and social modernization.China is a country with the world’s largest population and second largest economy,so the size of the Chinese economy must still grow bigger to achieve modernization,i.e.,“the modernization of a huge population.”

Second,the Chinese modernization is modernization of common prosperity for all,with emphasis on a very scientific system of income distribution.While some are encouraged to get rich first,get more pay for more work,and achieve prosperity through industrious work,the equity focus emphasizes fairness of opportunity rather than fairness of outcome.

Third,the Chinese modernization is modernization of both material and cultural-ethical advancement.The principal contradiction facing Chinese society today is that between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life.Therefore,a people-centered approach to economic development aims to solve problems associated with balance and adequacy.

Fourth,the Chinese modernization is modernization of harmony between humanity and nature.China has included ecological civilization into its Constitution,and added to the Party Constitution the statement “to fully understand that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.” From this perspective,the aim of the CPC Central Committee’s emphasis on the importance of green development and harmony between humanity and nature is to solve the problems hindering“adequate development” to achieve not only economic and social progress,but also harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

Fifth,the Chinese modernization is modernization of peaceful development.The Chinese path is not a beggar-thyneighbor approach nor an approach for China’s own development only,but an approach to driving the global economy through China’s development while fostering a community with a shared future for humanity to help lift human civilization to a new stage and build a new form of human civilization.

The Chinese path to modernization is of great importance to China today.It can fundamentally solve the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for better living while making the Chinese economy a locomotive leading world economic growth and contributing to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The Chinese modernization is indeed an adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times,further demonstrating the strong vitality of Marxism.It will lead China to achieve the Second Centenary Goal,which will produce a profound influence on the course of world history.Therefore,the Chinese modernization is actually the Chinese contribution to world economic development.

High-Standard Opening Up

“Dual circulation” was included in the report to the 20th CPC National Congress for the first time.“Development is our Party’s top priority in governing and rejuvenating China,”it said.“We must fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts,continue reforms to develop the socialist market economy,promote high-standard opening up,and accelerate efforts to foster a new pattern of development focused on the domestic economy and featuring positive interplay between domestic and international circulation.”

From an economic perspective,it is clear that the Chinese economy has entered a new stage of development in terms of macroeconomic fundamentals,industrial agglomeration and development,upgrading of enterprise total factor productivity,and greater added value on enterprise products.After entering a new stage of development,a new development concept to promote innovative,coordinated,green,open and shared development must be fully implemented.At the same time,efforts must be made to foster a new pattern of development focused on the domestic economy and featuring positive interplay between domestic and international circulation.That is an important trait of high-quality development.

Robots assemble a diesel engine on the final assembly line at a plant of Weichai Group in Weifang,Shandong Province,on April 22,2022. (GUO XULEI)

Specifically and firstly,China should leverage its advantages of super-largescale domestic market with extreme domestic demand potential,tap internal drivers for growth,and improve reliability.Enhancing reliability requires seizing firm control of food security and maintaining a minimum of 120 million hectares of arable land to ensure the Chinese people’s food supply remains firmly in their own hands.Meanwhile,we should be able to forge a supply chain system covering the whole industrial chain and constantly integrate into the global economic and trade landscape to continuously enhance the added value of the industrial chain and supply chain,which will guarantee the reliability of domestic circulation.

Secondly,China should become better integrated into international circulation.In the process of opening wider to the world,it is necessary to upgrade the level of opening up while opening up on a larger scale,across more areas,and in greater depth to achieve quality improvement and reasonable growth of quantity.We have placed importance on both quantity and quality,but more importance on quality.

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“We will promote high-standard opening up and steadily expand institutional opening up with regard to rules,regulations,management,and standards,” stated the report to the 20th CPC National Congress.“We will accelerate China’s transformation into a trader of quality,promote the highquality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),and endeavor to preserve the diversity and stability of the international economic landscape and economic and trade relations.”

“Institutional opening up” was written into a report to the CPC National Congress for the first time.In contrast to the opening up of products and the opening up of factors of production in the past,“institutional opening up”emphasizes the opening up in greater depth rather than simply on a larger scale or across more areas.It means that the 20th CPC National Congress has set a clearer path for building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

China’s opening up over the last decades can be divided into three stages.In the first stage,China tried to integrate into the global economic system as a follower.In the second stage,growth of its economy lifted China to the world's second largest economy,with GDP reaching 114 trillion yuan (US$17.5 trillion),accounting for 18.5 percent of the world economy.Its foreign exchange reserves and scale of the manufacturing industry both reached the largest in the world.The follower gradually caught up with the pack.Opening up at this stage was not only the opening up of products,but also the opening up of factors of production,which required connectivity with the world in capital,labor force,and other systems.

Today,China’s goal is opening up in the third stage,institutional opening up,to serve as a leading voice in global rules,regulations,management,and standards and actively participate in building a new international economic order.It seeks to be a trader of quality and a promoter of the BRI and its relevant projects as popular public goods to preserve the diversity and stability of the international economic landscape and economic and trade relations.

There are several things China can do to improve its quality and level of international circulation.

18.5%

In the second stage,growth of its economy lifted China to the world’s second largest economy,with GDP reaching114 trillion yuan(US$17.5 trillion),accounting for18.5 percentof the world economy.

COVID-19 vaccines produced by Sinopharm Group are unloaded at the airport in Belgrade,capital of Serbia,on January 16,2021.(XINHUA)

First,we need to actively promote high-standard opening up,expand international export markets,and diversify international trade rather than focusing on one or two specific countries or regions for trade.

Second,expanding imports proactively is not an expedient measure,but the only path to high-quality development.While expanding imports of goods,technology,and high-quality intermediate products,we also need to expand domestic production of intermediate products.The combination of imported intermediate products and domestic intermediate products will produce an amplified effect that helps enhance people’s sense of happiness and gain,improve residents’ welfare,reduce corporate costs,and increase corporate profits.

Third,it’s important for Chinese companies to “go global,” but it’s more important for them to “go upstream,” i.e.,they should try to improve the quality of overseas investment.

Fourth,with regard to trade in services,the overall goal is to expand trade volume,adjust the structure, cultivate features,and reduce the deficit.The essence is to expand our core competitiveness,empower it with the digital economy,and build a “Digital China.”

Fifth,promote BRI cooperation.The BRI has provided the world with exceptional public goods.More and more countries and regions have actively participated in the BRI.We should oppose trade protectionism and actively promote multilateral economic and trade cooperation through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership(CPTPP),to which China has applied for accession.We should also optimize the Northeast Land-Sea Corridor and other plans,promote negotiations on a China-Japan-ROK free trade agreement,and build the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor.All of these efforts will contribute to the effective optimization of China’s industrial gradient with a more reasonable layout of the industrial system and a clearer division of labor and cooperation along the industrial chain.This is how China will be able to foster a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulation reinforcing each other.

Last but not least,China should continue following the path of peaceful development.China opposes any act of unilateralism,protectionism,or bullying,and resolutely pursues modernized peaceful development.The Chinese path to modernization has provided a new option for mankind to achieve modernization.The CPC and the Chinese people have provided humanity with more Chinese insight,better Chinese input,and greater Chinese strength to help solve its common challenges.Peace and development still remain the underlying trend of the times.About the author Yu Miaojieis the president of Liaoning University,a distinguished professor at Peking University,and a member of the Economic and Trade Policy Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Commerce.