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Iran Press: Lessons From China's Economic Development

Posted on: Sunday, 16 October 2005, 09:00 CDT

Text of commentary by Behruz Behzadi: "The editor's note: China is a good model", published by the Iranian newspaper E'temad website on 15 October

By sending the second manned flight to space, China received a pass certificate for joining the super-power club, and at the moment, she rubs shoulders with America and Europe. With its [high] economic record, China will soon become an important factor in maintaining the economic and subsequently political

balance of power in the world.

China started her fast rate of growth from the beginning of 1990s, and as the result of the ceaseless efforts and hard work of its people and its national determination, it soon reached a high position in the world. The answer to the question as to why China has been so transformed in less than two decades is both easy and yet difficult. It is easy, because its development was based on extensive economic infrastructure and economic plans, and its people and officials pursued development and advancement as an urgent goal. The Chinese people improved their skills on an ever-increasing basis, and did not refrain from effort and hard work. Chinese officials were familiar with their responsibilities, and the people also moved with them towards a common goal.

Maybe we journalists can well remember that in the course of its economic development, the Chinese chose the free market system as their economic model and decided to get out of the rigid and worn- out Marxist mould. A number of people turned towards corruption, but the government confronted them in a merciless way right up to the point of execution, and uprooted the corruption. The reports that were published in the 1990s about the execution of some corrupt officials conveyed the message that any corruption in the path of the accumulation of wealth and assets would be intolerable. Those harsh policies were very effective. As gaining access to wealth through legitimate means had been permitted, the Chinese turned towards hard work and increased their personal and national wealth.

There is also a difficult explanation for China's development alongside the easy one. It is difficult because many national characteristics of that country were also effective in China's development. The Chinese culture had reached a point that it was ready for takeoff. To all the Chinese, values meant values and anti- values meant anti-values [they knew right from wrong]. National interests had superceded individual or group interests, and envy, flattery and cronyism had no place in the Chines culture. The nation was thrifty and content with little. The same was also true about the officials who were satisfied with low salaries. It could also be said that wastefulness was an unforgivable sin in the Chinese culture. Chinese officials who were free to spend never turned towards luxurious living. In one word, the society had strong principles and procedures, and the road was paved for the advancement of those who merited it. The law was enforced without mercy when it was required. Friendship, nepotism, relatives and cronies, bureaucracy and technocracy had no place in China.

As was pointed out, Chinese economic plans were drawn on the basis of mass production, and Chinese factories started manufacturing from the smallest items such as pencils and sharpeners to aircraft, tanks, missiles and wagons and exported them to world markets at low prices. This is how China conquered world markets one after another, and even in our country it has become a very serious rival for our domestically produced items. In some cases, she has even brought our factories to the verge of closure.

Let us leave China's characteristics alone, for there is a lot to be said about that, and let us turn to our country, and see how in view of our own native characteristics we can learn some lessons from the Chinese experience. The path that China pursued was not difficult, and we can pursue it too, only if we give precedence to national interests above all other interests.

Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

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