Dawn of new China: A 40-year journey

To say that China has changed has become sort of a cliché, but this one happens to be true.

The reform and opening-up launched by the country 40 years ago has transformed the nation at such a pace the China of four decades ago is simply unrecognizable.

Where once there were more dirt tracks than roads, now the country has the world’s largest network of highways, stretching more than 130,000 kilometers and connecting all regions of the nation; where once traveling even outside the city was considered a luxury by majority of the population, 70 million foreigners visited China in the first six months of this year; where once getting hold of basic medicine was a Herculean task, now Chinese scientists are developing cutting-edge treatments.

In 1978, the year the country decided to reform and open its economy, more than 33 percent of Chinese living in rural areas earned less than 100 yuan per year. In 2017, the per-capita disposable income in rural areas stood at 13,432 yuan. The country’s GDP was less than $150 billion in 1978. In 2017, it was $12.84 trillion. Infant mortality rate in the nation has fallen from 37.61 per thousand in 1982 to 6.8 in 2017. The average life expectancy has risen from 67.77 years in 1981 to 76.5 in 2017.

So, how did China achieve what no other country has been able to achieve?

Well, obviously, the vision of the nation’s leadership has a lot to do with it. But equally it’s the ordinary Chinese who should be applauded. They are the magicians who made the miracle a reality.

But success has also attracted detractors. There are three major claims critics of China make. First, that China got where it is today because it had a workforce that was ready to put in long hours in factories for a pittance. Second, whatever China sold was just a copy. Third, its system gave the nation an unfair advantage.

While it is true there were factories exploiting the workforce, it’s also true the majority of workers did not shirk from hard work, simply because they wanted a better life for themselves and their families. And this desire is not limited to Chinese in China. Millions of Chinese moved up the economic ladder through sheer hard work in the West, just like Koreans or any other nationality. The refusal of critics to acknowledge the blood and sweat of the workers is, frankly, an insult to these men and women.

The second claim downplays one crucial point: The customers in the West wanted good quality goods, but did not want to pay through the nose. China was only fulfilling market demands. But that is all in the past. A country where the majority of population ate rice and pork only on special occasions, where bicycles were the only mode of transportation for many and new clothes were considered a luxury is now making advanced breakthroughs in quantum communication, space travel and information technology.

As far as the third claim is concerned, it is disingenuous at best. Every system in every country is geared toward boosting economic growth. What separates China from other nations — and this is what irks many critics — is that ordinary people are benefiting from economic growth and progress. If, like many other countries, only the elites were profiting, then these same critics would be praising the system.

This is not to say there are no problems in the country. Far from it. However, what should be praised and applauded is that the Chinese people, guided by their leaders, have changed the fate of the country forever.

The author is a journalist with more than 18 years experience in media.