8 lessons from China’s independence
EVERY October 1, the People’s Republic of China, celebrates the end of dynastic rule and the march towards democracy. It is an important milestone in the rich history of the People’s Republic of China.
The beginning of the Chinese Revolution in 1911 brought an end to the monarchical system and catalysed a democratic wave in China. It was a result of efforts from the nationalist forces to bring about democratic norms.
On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China in Tiananmen Square before a crowd of 300 000 people, while waving the new Chinese flag.
The declaration followed a civil war in which communist forces emerged victorious over the nationalist government.
On December 2, 1949, at a meeting of the Central People’s Government Council, the declaration to formally adopt October 1 as Chinese National Day was ratified by the First National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
This marked the end of a long and bitter civil war between the Chinese Communist Party led by Mao and the Chinese government. Over the period massive military parades and grand rallies were held from 1950 to 1959 on Chinese National Day every year.
But it was in 1960 when the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council decided to simplify the celebrations. Mass rallies continued to take place in Tiananmen Square until 1970, although military parades were cancelled.
The world over, national days are of utmost importance, not only culturally, but also in representing independent states and the current government system.
For Zimbabwe, and the rest of Africa, China’s transformation from a poor developing nation into an economic giant today, offers great lessons.
It is critical to note that in the past 30 years or so, China has proved beyond reasonable doubt that a nation that truly believes in itself and has the right mind-set can overcome any challenge and achieve greatness.
A nation that was once colonised can rise to become a superpower
China has a history of being colonised, as the USA once was. After 1840, feudal China was gradually turned into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country and from 1931 to 1945 Japan also occupied various parts of China.
Colonisation can make a nation lose its pride, dignity, identity and self-belief, but China has managed to regain all these and even overtake its former colonisers to become the world’s second largest economy today.
It is not disputed that colonisation and slavery robbed Africa and took away its pride, dignity, identity and self-belief. China has taught Zimbabweans in particular, and Africans in general that a nation can go through such a dehumanising experience and still regain what was lost and rise again.
Only when Africa has changed from the colonial mindset and regained her pride, dignity, identity and self-belief can it attain greatness.
A nation must create its own economic and political system guided by its national interests
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the country became a one-party state and adopted communism and “socialism with Chinese characteristics”.
Up to this day, China’s economy has been defined as a “social market economy”, and does not fit into any one system. Rather, it takes various parts of other systems and combines them to create a system that best serves its national interests.
The Chinese realised that they required stability to develop and therefore adopted a political system that is a one-party system with intraparty democracy.
Without the political stability that came from having a consistent government, the Chinese would not have been able to develop the way they have, and as quickly as they have.
Economically, the Chinese have studied some advanced experiences of capitalism countries even though they are the biggest opponents of capitalism.
Africa has tried to be communist, socialist, and capitalist over time and has failed, but now need to be pragmatists to serve national interests.
A nation must always have clear programmes that are bold and
have vision Throughout China’s history, there have been bold programmes with vision such as the “Open Door Policy” (1978) and the “Go Abroad Policy” (2000).
One can note that these programmes had clear objectives. The “Open Door Policy” ushered in economic reforms that led to rural industrialisation and enterprise restructuring. The policy opened up China’s economy to foreign direct investment (FDI) and was a huge success.
For Zimbabwe and Africa economic policies and reforms should begin with a vision of what a nation is trying to achieve. To put it bluntly African nations need clear programmes that are bold and have vision.
Africa knows its plight better than anyone else and has the human resources to implement
the programmes effectively
A nation must train its youth skills that serve national interests.
In China, each year, university admissions for various disciplines are allocated in proportion to what skills the country require most at that point in time. If China needs more engineers, then there will be more university admissions for engineering than other disciplines.
At the end of high school, all Chinese students write a standard national exam. This determines whether a student can enter university and what he or she can study. Students who score the necessary grades have a choice to study what they desire as they have first preference in universities.
Zimbabwe for instance, has a young population between the ages of 15 and 25, and the population continues to get younger and the trend does not seem to be changing anytime soon.
Therefore, collectively if need be, African nations must be deliberate in training their youth so that they can contribute meaningfully to national development.
This may mean that African nations have to change their schools’ curricula to be biased towards the skills the nations require. Vocational skills training should also be in line with the needs of the nation to ensure employment after completion of school.
A nation must be proud of its cultural heritage so it can have a
strong national identity China has turned traditional holidays that were celebrated by its ancestors centuries ago, such as the Spring Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival, into public holidays and has maintained its language and most of its customs, therefore establishing a strong national identity.
Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa can do the same to instil pride in cultural heritage, thereby promoting a strong national identity.
A nation’s State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) can be key
drivers of the economy
It is now clear, that the key drivers of China’s economy are state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
Chinese SOEs are estimated to account for about half of the country’s industrial output, therefore contributing significantly to China’s $14,7 trillion GDP, and more than $3 trillion cash reserves.
African nations, Zimbabwe included should therefore rethink the notion that says governments should not be directly involved in economic activity, but rather stick to just regulating the environment for the private sector to drive the economy.
A nation must be quick and decisive in policy implementation
In 2008, while the rest of the world was busy debating how to deal with the world financial crisis, China was already implementing its economic stimulus plan of increasing public investment in infrastructure, lowering taxes, and easing credit restrictions for mortgages and SMEs, and therefore the effects of the world crisis on China’s economy were not as severe as in other countries.
Going forward, African nations should focus on getting the most qualified and competent people to work in government.
In China, the government recruits the top students from universities for public service.
A nation must be proud of and
promote its own brands
In China, the Chinese search engine Baidu is bigger than Google. Instead of YouTube, there is Youku. Instead of eBay, there is Taobao. Instead of Facebook, there is RenRen. Instead of Twitter, there is Weibo. China has promoted its own Chinese alternatives. The Chinese have pride in their good local brands and always make a conscious decision to support them whenever possible.
Where there are African alternatives, Africans should support African brands because that is more likely to benefit Africans.
If Africans produce in Africa, consume in Africa, and trade within Africa, the continent will be in a better position to determine its economic destiny.