Modernization of a Huge Population
CHINESE President Xi Jinping once said, “Our modernization is both the most difficult and the greatest.” One of the reasons for that is China’s national reality of a huge population.
A huge population: Chinese modernization is difficult
With over 1.4 billion people on course toward modernization, a number larger than the combined population of all developed countries, China will transform the international landscape of modernization. It is the largest-scale modernization in human history, and also the most difficult one.
First of all, a huge population means diverse demands for development. The effectiveness of collective action is closely related to the number of people working together. The conditions and demands for development of different members in society vary greatly. With a huge population, it is challenging to solve problems such as employment, distribution, education, medical care, housing, elderly care, and child care, since a great number of people are involved in each of these causes. Only by vigorously forging consensus among different members in society, and realising inclusive development can China make sound and steady progress towards modernization.
Second, China’s development remains unbalanced and inadequate. Although China has become the second largest economy in the world, its per capita GDP ranks lower than 80th in the world. Among China’s 34 provincial-level administrative regions, the province with the biggest GDP is Guangdong, which is among the top 10 in the world, and dozens of times that of the provinces with lower economic volumes. And there’s a great gap between urban and rural areas in China, in terms of infrastructure, education, medical care and job opportunities. The rural areas are relatively underdeveloped.
In addition, there is no precedent in human history for a country with a population over a billion to successfully realise modernization. For countries with different population sizes, the increase in the difficulty of realising modernization doesn’t simply go proportionally with the increase of population. Because, with the increase of population, the difficulty in coordinating and investing resources and in governing will see exponential, nonlinear growth. Think about the difficulty for China, a country with a vast territory and huge regional differences. With no precedent to follow or ready experience to copy, China’s modernization is a pioneering endeavor, one of going “from zero to one”.
A huge population: Chinese modernization is inspiring
Advancing Chinese modernization for a huge population is difficult but right, and holds great significance for the world.
First of all, Chinese modernization will rewrite the international landscape of modernization. Since the industrial revolution began, only 1.2 billion people are living in high-income countries, which have modernized through the Western model. That’s about 15.8 percent of the world’s population. China, on the other hand, has more than 1.4 billion people, accounting for 18 percent of the world’s population, the modernization of which will double the world’s modernized population. This is unprecedented work and a great feat in human history with far-reaching significance.
Second, Chinese modernization is exploring a pathway for developing countries, home to more than 80 percent of world population. China independently blazed a Chinese path to modernization that suits its national conditions, breaking the one-sided but once commonly accepted myth that modernization equals westernization. However, China has never exported its path as a “universal model”, but offered it as a reference for other countries to draw on in light of their own reality.
Facing unbalanced and inadequate development and diverse resource endowments and demands in different regions, China, taking into account its own national realities, has promoted the development of the whole society through two successful practices: allowing some to get rich first and then help others get rich; and making a bigger pie and sharing the pie better. In the process of modernization, China has realized that promoting development is like walking, only by putting one foot in front of the other in turn can one walk far and steady. If people only rely on the foot in front, they will not travel far and may even trip over.
Third, Chinese modernization has brought great opportunities to the world. Over the past 40-plus years since the launch of reform and opening-up, the Chinese government has lifted over 800 million people out of poverty, and enlarged the middle-income group to over 400 million people. Today, China is the main trading partner of over 140 countries and regions, making USD 320 million direct investment around the world each day and attracting over 3,000 foreign businesses every month. Over the past decade, China has contributed more to global growth than all the G7 countries combined. With the continuous improvement of living standards and the growing size of the middle-income group, China’s huge population will continue to provide a huge market and enormous development opportunities for the rest of the world.
The realization of Chinese modernization will bring about a fundamental change of the world modernization landscape, a new form of human advancement and opportunities for global development. It is a formidable mission that requires arduous efforts. A formidable mission is a magnificent and glorious mission. China will continue to steadfastly advance Chinese modernization with unyielding tenacity and a global vision, and contribute to the well-being of people in China and other countries in the world.
PEACEFUL DEVELOPMENT
The Chinese people are now marching ahead on the path to modernization. Modernization, however, may not evoke pleasant memories for everyone in the world. In many cases, it comes along with expansion, friction, and even conflict. But does it have to be this way? China has given a resounding answer: its modernization will be achieved through peaceful development. In fact, China is the only country whose Constitution says it “keeps to a path of peaceful development.” Why is this a big deal?
Like the Mayan, Inca and Egyptian civilizations, the Chinese civilization is an agrarian one. With their vast plains, the Chinese developed a generally self-sufficient economy, and would earn nature’s blessings through their hard work and resilience throughout millennia. Self-sufficiency, to a large extent, shaped the Chinese national character of cherishing peace.
From statesmen advocating the governance philosophy of “peace among all nations” to the ordinary people believing “friendliness brings wealth”, the culture of peace has long been woven into the fabric of the Chinese society. Even The Art of War by Sun Tsu, a military work widely acclaimed by strategists across the world, stresses that “the skillful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting.”
The pursuit of peace is a consistent theme in China’s history. The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping is inspired by the ancient Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road, which started and flourished respectively during the Han (206 B.C. to 220 A.D.) and Tang (618 A.D. to 906 A.D.) Dynasties, the heyday of China’s feudal society. But the purpose of the two roads was trade and exchange, not invasion or expansion. In the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), China was leading the world economy and capable of building the world’s largest fleet. But when the great navigator Zheng He led seven voyages to the western oceans, what China sought was fair trade, not plundering or looting; it sent porcelain and tea leaves to countries along the route, not “sword and cross.”
China needs peaceful development for its modernization drive
On the path of peaceful development, China has never waged a war, or encroached upon a single inch of another country’s land. After the People’s Republic of China was founded, it took the lead in proposing and acting on the five principles of peaceful coexistence. Among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, China is the largest contributor of peacekeepers. China is also the only one of the five nuclear-weapon states (P5) that has pledged no-first-use of nuclear weapons.
Peaceful development is the most realistic and best solution for China to pursue its national interests. China is advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization. The key to this ambition is running its own affairs well, focusing on development and making its people better off. That, first and foremost, requires a peaceful and stable environment at home and abroad.
Giving up peaceful development is not cost-effective considering China’s endowment and its interdependence with the rest of the world. China has a supersize market with 1.4 billion people, including over 400 million in the middle-income group. China is a major trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions. These mean enormous potential in China’s consumption and export. China is also an innovation powerhouse and has complete industrial and infrastructure systems. Its high-tech industries such as new energy vehicles (NEVs), 5G and photovoltaics (PV) are highly competitive and enjoy a strong momentum. China is also deeply integrated into the international system, making huge progress amid globalization and benefiting the world in the process. As President Xi Jinping put it, “all countries are in a community with destinies linked.”
The global significance of China’s peaceful pursuit of modernization
From the 2nd CELAC Heads of State and Government Summit declaring that the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) was a “zone of peace”, the ASEAN Regional Forum Statement on Reiterating Commitment to Preserve Southeast Asia as A Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, to the Jeddah Declaration adopted at the 32nd Arab League Summit emphasizing Arab unity and cooperation, and the AU Agenda 2063 aiming for “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa” in 50 years, peace has always been the aspiration of the vast majority of countries and people.
As the world’s second most populous country and the second largest economy, China is developing itself by unleashing its internal dynamism and peacefully utilizing external resources. It does not oppress any other nation in any form or rob others of resources and wealth; instead, it goes all out to help and support fellow developing countries. The Chinese path to modernization via peaceful development will bring new hope to people of all countries who yearn for peace and development, and contribute even more to world peace, tranquility, prosperity and development.
