Celebration of sovereignty: Drawing inspiration from China’s 76 years of transformation

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OPINION

By George Musiime

Chairman Mao’s pronouncement on October 1, 1949, not only marked the founding of the People’s Republic of China, but it also set in motion a historical clock.

At the time, the country was neither developed nor had it any more prospects than most African countries at independence.

In fact, unlike Africa, China faced the additional burden of twenty-two years of war preceding the pronouncement, which amplified the magnitude of the task ahead.

Nevertheless, through policy independence, institution building tailored to national realities and a culture of continuous learning, adaptation and self-reorientation, China has built a modern country and cultivated the world’s second-largest economy.

In this essay, I contend that beyond celebrating the achievements of the past 76 years of transformation, Africa can draw inspiration from this transformation for its own path of development.

Whereas the remarkable achievements of the past 76 years might give the impression of a seamless transformation, this journey was challenging, punctuated by missteps and failures; some disastrous in scale.

What made the difference was the country’s openness to continuous learning, adaptability and persistence.

For instance, while the Great Leap Forward produced significant gains in agricultural productivity, attempts to replicate these gains in steel production came at an immense cost, contributing to the famine in 1959.

As history shows, misrepresentation of facts on the ground can drive political decisions with catastrophic repercussions.

However, strong commitment to set goals [building a modern country in this case], rigorous evaluation of process and outcome, willingness to learn and readiness to adapt transformed even failures into lessons that informed the success that would follow.

From aid-based relations to trade and economic self-sufficiency, China’s radical shift in focus.

The setbacks of the period before the reform era and subsequent opening up underscored the importance of developing tradable goods and a strong industrial capacity.

Seventy-six years later, it is evident that this strategy paid off. China not only emerged as a global manufacturing hub; it also became an alternative development model outside the Eurocentric paradigm.  While globalisation makes replicating certain aspects of this strategy impractical, the principle of developing a strong industrial base and producing tradable goods remains a relevant option for the developing world.

In fact, with Chinese assistance, several specialised economic zones and industrial parks have been set up in different countries across the continent, not only to diversify trade but also to drive a shift from Africa’s heavy reliance on low-value primary products.

Starting small and scaling after validated learning- the Chinese way. From socialism to socialism with Chinese characteristics, the hallmark of Chinese development has been the willingness to experiment and learn from past failures.

The success of agricultural collectivisation, for example, made it hard to anticipate the fallout from backyard steel furnaces, which drained agricultural labour and exacerbated food shortages.

Nevertheless, this failure paved the way for future reorientation. The localised reforms in Xiaogang village and the industrial experiment in Shekou became pilot projects that were scaled out nationwide.

This incremental approach, of testing policies before nationwide rollout, reduced risk, increased chances of success and built confidence. Uganda’s decision to set up industrial parks in all major towns after initial success mirrors this model.

For Africa, piloting policies before full-scale rollout has the potential of maximising returns on limited resources and avoiding large-scale policy failures.

Noteworthy is that this model can reach greater success with the backing of the people, built on trust in their leadership.

Whether it is the agricultural collectivisation, enduring infrastructure of this era like the Red Flag Canal in Henan, or the more recent poverty alleviation campaign, the common denominator has been solidarity and confidence in the national leadership.

For polarised nations, as is the case for some African countries today, the struggle to register similar achievements is imminent.

Shared prosperity can only be built on shared commitment. The challenge, therefore, becomes bigger than merely inspiring confidence but also fostering national objectives that transcend salient political, tribal and economic divisions.

Finally, the transformation of the past 76 years cannot be understood without emphasis on leadership continuity- arguably the most important factor of all. Although the vision of building a modern Chinese nation started much earlier, and was first given prominence by Sun Yat-Sen. However, concrete progress became more evident under the Communist Party of China (CPC) following the proclamation of 1949.

Even before Zhou Enlai’s articulation of the four modernisations agenda, the CPC already had its sights set on building a modern economy. Continuity in leadership ensured that successive reforms were built on past achievements to deliver the spectacle of the 76 years of transformation.

By contrast, African countries are often plagued by leadership transitions that undo previous gains or deliberately roll back policies of their predecessors.

This cycle has repeatedly stalled progress, highlighting the importance of consistent vision and continuity of action for long-term socio-economic transformation on the continent.

Today, there is no doubt that Africa stands at the crossroads of transformation; therefore, the Chinese experience offers both caution and inspiration. 

While the Chinese model might not be copied wholesale, it serves as a perfect reflection of what is possible when policy independence is combined with experimentation, continuity of leadership enabled by the trust of the population.

But beyond the general agreement that Africa’s challenge isn’t the absence of ideas, there exists fragmentation of purpose.

If anything must be learned from China’s Seventy-six years of transformation, it should be that socio-economic transformation is a long journey. 

A journey made by building steadily, learning from failures and momentum that is sustained across regimes and generations.

The writer is a research fellow at the Development Watch Centre