At the end of December, an important book was published by Palgrave Macmillan, written by the Chinese researcher and expert Zhongmin Wu, titled The Theory of Chinese Modernization.
This book explores the unique path China has taken towards modernization, highlighting its journey from an ancient civilization to a modern society.
It discusses China’s efforts from its internal and external conflicts in the mid-19th century to its contemporary economic achievements. It covers historical, social, and economic aspects, emphasizing the balance between independent development and global integration.
The book explains how China has adapted and refined its principles of modernization over time.
In the mid-19th century, China began to face internal instability and external pressures, driven by the idea of “self-strengthening” in its modernization journey. In the early 20th century, leader Sun Yat-sen first proposed the renewal and revival of the Chinese nation, aiming to surpass Western nations and make China a “first-class great power” in modernization.
However, due to the constraints imposed by semi-colonial powers at the time, China encountered barriers to independent modernization, making successful progress unattainable. In 1949, China achieved national independence. Over the following three decades, China underwent profound social transformations and embarked on its arduous and pioneering path towards independent modernization, laying the essential material foundations and establishing social institutions for future progress. Most importantly, since around 1978, China has succeeded in charting its own path towards modernization, achieving a significant historical leap forward.
China began to cross the threshold into modern society around 2020, having completed the “initial” stage of modernization and started the “intermediate” stage. At current exchange rates, China has become the second-largest economic entity in the world.
China’s contribution to global GDP was 1.7% in 1978, 1.6% in 1990, 3.6% in 2000, 9.2% in 2010, and 18.5% in 2021; it ranked first globally in foreign exchange reserves with 25.2% of the total in 2016.
China now acts as a fundamental engine driving global economic development, as its modernization efforts enhance mutually beneficial interactions with the rest of the world.
The launch of China’s modernization signifies its integration into a new era of human civilization. This important event has historical significance not only for China but also represents a transformational event on a “century-making” scale for the whole world, generating increasingly broad and profound positive impacts on global modernization.
As China’s modernization progresses, it will provide essential and intrinsic momentum for global modernization, fostering positive enhancements and improvements in the global landscape.
The success and initial launch of modernization in China can be attributed to several key factors:
- China Places Great Importance on Modernization.
In comparison to major powers worldwide such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, and Brazil, China prioritizes modernization at the highest level. Both government and societal levels emphasize modernization as a historical mission.
Chinese leaders have set modernization goals since the 1950s and 1960s. Since the reform and opening up, they have considered modernization the central task of the era, establishing consecutive specific plans to achieve it.
In the current industrial context, contrasting with the natural economy of the past, the Chinese people view modernization as the necessary path to achieve their aspirations for better living. Consequently, the term “modernization” has become widely prevalent in Chinese society, becoming a familiar “context” for the Chinese people. The significance of China’s focus on modernization lies in its ability to foster a high degree of consensus and unified goals among various social groups in building modernization, thereby enhancing the powerful drive for modernization efforts.
- China Has Achieved Organic Integration Between the General Laws of Modernization and Its Specific National Conditions.
There is no doubt that modernization constitutes an inevitable trend in the evolution of human society. It necessitates a set of comprehensive principles and core characteristics, including large-scale modern industrial productivity, a market economy, secularism, high social differentiation and integration, urbanization, globalization, and advanced science and technology. It is also vital to realize that modernization is executed by individual countries, each with its own specific national circumstances. There is no fixed and unified path to modernization; thus, organic integration of the general laws of modernization with the specific national conditions of each country is essential to form an applicable modernization path.
If a country wishes to achieve modernization but does not adhere to the general laws of modernization, its modernization will become self-referential and impossible to progress. Similarly, without adapting to specific national circumstances, modernization will lack the necessary foundation for growth and progress.
China has successfully integrated the general laws of modernization with its specific national conditions, thereby forming the Chinese path to modernization. This organic integration empowers the modernization process in China, allowing it to obtain wide development space, as the modern direction provided by the modernization process is underpinned by solid growth rooted in China’s national reality. Consequently, China’s modernization efforts have gained remarkable resilience.
- China’s Understanding of the Principles Governing Modernization Is Continuously Improving.
The construction of modernization unfolds as a gradual process of development, paralleling the deepening and strengthening of understanding among its population. If modernization initiatives in a country progress to a certain extent without a proportional advancement in understanding, this will inevitably hinder further progress in modernization efforts. Unlike some countries, China’s understanding of modernization has continuously evolved since the onset of reform and opening policies, leading to a consistent enhancement in the effectiveness of modernization efforts. For instance, China places significant importance on the objective of promoting shared prosperity, ensuring that modernization initiatives consistently adhere to the correct path and avoid pitfalls associated with capital dominance. Simultaneously, China has established a socialist market economy, which corrects the inherent flaws in the previous planned economy model characterized by inequality and inefficiency, thereby invigorating modernization efforts with vitality and creativity.
- China Has Achieved a Harmonious Combination of Independent Development and Openness to the International Community.
A key factor contributing to the success of China’s modernization is its adept combination of independent development and openness to the world. On one hand, China emphasizes the importance of independent pursuit of modernization. With a history of over a century of semi-colonial and semi-feudal rule, China recognizes that loss of national independence and sovereignty would hinder natural modernization. Hence, China values independent modernization highly. Throughout its modernization journey since the initiation of reform and opening policies, China has consistently opposed foreign actions that undermine its sovereignty and national interests. This approach has enabled China to avoid the traps of dependency development seen in some Latin American and African countries. On the other hand, China strongly emphasizes openness to the world, actively participating in economic globalization. China’s sincerity and tangible actions in global engagement surpass those of certain developed countries.
China leads the world in total import and export volumes and ranks third in terms of outward foreign direct investment. The seamless integration of independent development and international openness injects strong vitality into China’s modernization efforts. China now boasts the most independent and comprehensive industrial system globally, with its manufacturing sector equaling the combined share of the United States and the European Union. Furthermore, China has made rapid advances in science and technology. All of this reinforces China’s modernization with a solid material and technological foundation, facilitating its continuous development.
- China Has Effectively Managed Social Risks.
As China’s economy continues to expand and its social structure becomes more complex, there is greater diversity in interests and demands among its population. Furthermore, with deepening interactions with other countries and significant global transformations, China faces numerous increasingly complex social risks, both locally and internationally. While these challenges pose many threats to China’s modernization efforts, it is crucial to recognize that social conflicts can act as a driving force.
China possesses several factors that contribute to the advancement of modernization and represent a consistent pattern.
Historically, China has demonstrated acute awareness of risk prevention. Currently, China is becoming increasingly prepared, both psychologically and materially, to address social risks. Essentially, China has effectively managed these challenges by leveraging its unique risk awareness, creative capabilities, adaptability, error-correction mechanisms, community mobilization, and organizational capacities, thus ensuring essential security guarantees for ongoing progress and improvements in its modernization efforts.
It is essential to recognize that alongside these factors, the diligent work ethic of the Chinese people, the expanding domestic market, increasing consumer demand, comprehensive industrial chains, a vast pool of skilled employees, and principles of peaceful development provide substantial intrinsic momentum and fundamental security measures for the sustainable progress of China’s modernization efforts.
