BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITIES
Why China will change the world
NIKITA Liu*, a 20-something tour guide in Shanghai, remembers when Pudong was little more than fields of rice paddies and a weekend destination for families living west of the Huangpu River.
So unimaginable was the rise of Shanghai that her father, a long-serving employee of a Chinese state-owned company, turned down a free two-bedroom apartment in the heart of Pudong, today China’s financial centre and one of the most sought-after residential addresses in the world.
“Nobody wanted to live in Pudong. Getting to that side of the Huangpu River was a mission. Because my father was a long-serving employee, his wish of staying in Puxi was granted.
‘‘If I drive past that building in Pudong now, I just get depressed — we lost millions.
‘‘Nobody could ever have imagined how this city would change in 30 years,” Liu said.
It is almost impossible to find the words to describe the Shanghai of 2013. It is so big: the city is home to more than 23 million people, making it one of the most populous cities on earth. Shanghai has the world’s biggest container port (it handled 32.5 million 20-foot-equivalent container units last year, compared with Durban’s 2.59 million).
There are high-rise buildings as far as the eye can see, all connected by impressive tripledecker highways, bridges, tunnels and a railway network that make you wish the Chinese could win a few more construction contracts in Africa.
Shanghai’s GDP was in excess of $320-billion last year — double that of 2006. South Africa’s GDP (with a population of about 50 million), was worth $383-billion in 2012. We have a lot to learn. They can certainly teach our politicians, who seem to be so in love with everything Chinese, how to implement policy. No national development plan will gather dust for months while
More than 300m people have been moved into the middle class
economic growth sputters and unemployment climbs. When the Communist Party’s politburo makes a decision, you can be sure it will be implemented. People’s jobs depend on it.
China’s investment in worldclass infrastructure — from ports and railways to public housing and working traffic lights — has played a crucial role in growing the economy. The urbanisation push has helped to lift millions out of poverty by moving people closer to the centres of economic activity. But no houses are being built at Orange Farm, miles away from any job opportunities and with no cheap and efficient public transport.
The evidence is clear to see: between 1991 and 2001, 680 million people were moved out of poverty; since 2001 another 280 million were lifted out of extreme poverty, according to The Economist. More than 300 million people have been moved into the middle class. You almost start thinking democracy is overrated.
Though communist in name, the success of the Chinese government’s economic reforms is to a large extent thanks to opening up its markets, encouraging private-sector investment, and running increasingly efficient state-owned enterprises that can compete on the global stage.
China’s rise comes at a cost, of course. The state controls everything: how many children you are allowed to have, where you may go to school, what you may read on the internet (no longer Bloomberg or The New York Times, after they published stories about the personal fortunes amassed by senior Communist Party leaders).
While protests are common (the clampdowns are typically swift and effective, with hardly a mention in the largely state-controlled media), China has some world-famous dissidents, notably Liu Xiaobo, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, but remains imprisoned for his role as a founder member of “Charter 08”, which called publicly for political reforms, democracy and human rights.
It remains to be seen how long the Communist Party will be able to suppress liberties such as media freedom and the right to vote in a country where more and more people are joining the middle class and are travelling the world. Clamping down on widespread corruption and narrowing the growing gap between rich and poor are seen as two ways to continue pacifying the masses.
Other challenges include China’s ageing population and rising wages.
It remains a difficult place to do business. The World Bank ranked it 96th out of 189 economies for ease of doing business, compared with 41st for South Africa.
Whether we like to or not, gaining a better understanding of China, its history, language and culture will be crucial in the years to come.
*Not her real name