China, the shining example of transformative leadership
IT is common knowledge that “When China sneezes everyone catches a cold.†What are the reasons? Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1959, the Chinese have steadily pursued the transformation of their country. I have previously en
By Augustus Nuwagaba
IT is common knowledge that “When China sneezes everyone catches a cold.†What are the reasons? Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1959, the Chinese have steadily pursued the transformation of their country. I have previously endeavoured to explain that there are only two types of leaders in the world — transformative and transactional leaders.
A transformative leader recognises and exploits existing needs of his people and seeks to satisfy them. Transformative leaders have four major traits — idealised influence, where the leader becomes a role model; inspirational motivation, where the leader cultivates change; intellectual stimulation (creativity and innovation); and mentoring. The leader does not simply have power but also has a vision and a sense of purpose. On the other hand, a transactional leader is only interested in power for personal aggrandisement. The power and authority are not used for improving people’s lives but for selfish interests.
In 1969, China underwent a cultural revolution which greatly re-oriented its population toward values of hard work, self-determination and national pride. Later in 1979, it embraced a “one-child policyâ€. This was out of the realisation that the then population growth rate (over 3% per annum) was not sustainable. Given that by this time China had a population of one billion people, the government had to pursue what is recorded as the most effective population reduction policy in the world. Otherwise, the demographic weight in China posed the most avertive effect to economic gains.
From 1980 to date, China has pursued an economic strategy based on “socialist modernisationâ€, a strategy that has delivered phenomenal achievements based on the following.
Recognising the population as the most crucial resource, hence investing heavily in health, education and training (skills development) sectors.
Emphasising an export-led economy through consciously protecting local industries while slowly opening up to the global system.
Benefiting from “demographic gift†through attracting international capital (currently estimated at $780b over the last 30 years). The benefits have come from the highly skilled labourforce (human capital)which is endowed with effective demand which has in turn stimulated increased industrial production due to enhanced purchasing power.
Positive saving culture: In China, the average person saves 48% of his/her monthly income as opposed to Uganda where a large portion of salaried workers spend the next month’s income in the current one.
As a result of these specifically and consciously tailored policies, China reduced household poverty from 44% in the early 1980s to a paltry 4% in 2000. This is the highest economic performance of a country ever achieved in the world in such a short time. A friend of mine was recently in China and told me how he interacted with members of the Chinese cabinet. He told me how the Chinese ministers were all suffering from the “unquenchable thirst†for poverty reduction among the Chinese households. How I wish that only one minister out of our 69 ministers in Uganda had this thirst. It is even more gratifying that the Chinese growth is reasonably well-distributed within the Chinese population with minimum inequalities. It is this economic performance that has earned China international influence, including being a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It was, indeed, interesting to see how China exercised its veto powers to halt the American and the British onslaught on Zimbabwe in the recent UN Security Council resolution that would have declared comprehensive sanctions on Zimbabwe.
I am not an apologist to Robert Mugabe’s authoritarian regime (and indeed, I sympathise with the people of Zimbabwe that have suffered the full blunt of Mugabe’s tyranny), but only to emphasise how China has successfully checked the prevailing unipolar global system dominated by the US. That is why these days you hear people say “America is panicking as a result of Chinese advancement.†And, indeed, this is not without reason. A country that commands 10% of the global economic growth with 12% contribution to global trade expansion cannot be taken lightly.
In a recent book entitled: From Poverty to Power, The Role of Effective States and Active Citizens, Duncan Green refers to what he calls “The Economics of 21st Century,†where he introduces a concept of the “Asian Centuryâ€. This nomenclature derives from the fact that the Asian tigers and cobs, led by China, Singapore, Thailand South Korea and Malaysia have demonstrated the role of an “Effective State.â€
This is a state that focuses on transforming the lives of its people. In almost all these countries that have experienced phenomenal growth and development, this transformation has been achieved through investing in social sectors — education, health care, public works (for enhancing marketing infrastructure) and value-addition through micro enterprise development (as opposed to heavy industrial establishment) mainly on the poor households.
Another example of a transformative leadership and effective state is India that has leapfrogged to being among the first 10 largest economies in the world. India has achieved this using the cottage industrial philosophy. The cottage industries focus on supporting households to do business but the state facilitates the collection and marketing of products. The advantage here is low costs of production, hence, making the products competitive on the global market.
I have argued before and still hold that what fails Africa is lack of transformative leadership. Whatever political fine print, there will not be any robust economic or social development in Africa without resolving the question of leadership and political hygiene.
The writer is an international development consultant
IT is common knowledge that “When China sneezes everyone catches a cold.†What are the reasons? Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1959, the Chinese have steadily pursued the transformation of their country. I have previously endeavoured to explain that there are only two types of leaders in the world — transformative and transactional leaders.
A transformative leader recognises and exploits existing needs of his people and seeks to satisfy them. Transformative leaders have four major traits — idealised influence, where the leader becomes a role model; inspirational motivation, where the leader cultivates change; intellectual stimulation (creativity and innovation); and mentoring. The leader does not simply have power but also has a vision and a sense of purpose. On the other hand, a transactional leader is only interested in power for personal aggrandisement. The power and authority are not used for improving people’s lives but for selfish interests.
In 1969, China underwent a cultural revolution which greatly re-oriented its population toward values of hard work, self-determination and national pride. Later in 1979, it embraced a “one-child policyâ€. This was out of the realisation that the then population growth rate (over 3% per annum) was not sustainable. Given that by this time China had a population of one billion people, the government had to pursue what is recorded as the most effective population reduction policy in the world. Otherwise, the demographic weight in China posed the most avertive effect to economic gains.
From 1980 to date, China has pursued an economic strategy based on “socialist modernisationâ€, a strategy that has delivered phenomenal achievements based on the following.
Recognising the population as the most crucial resource, hence investing heavily in health, education and training (skills development) sectors.
Emphasising an export-led economy through consciously protecting local industries while slowly opening up to the global system.
Benefiting from “demographic gift†through attracting international capital (currently estimated at $780b over the last 30 years). The benefits have come from the highly skilled labourforce (human capital)which is endowed with effective demand which has in turn stimulated increased industrial production due to enhanced purchasing power.
Positive saving culture: In China, the average person saves 48% of his/her monthly income as opposed to Uganda where a large portion of salaried workers spend the next month’s income in the current one.
As a result of these specifically and consciously tailored policies, China reduced household poverty from 44% in the early 1980s to a paltry 4% in 2000. This is the highest economic performance of a country ever achieved in the world in such a short time. A friend of mine was recently in China and told me how he interacted with members of the Chinese cabinet. He told me how the Chinese ministers were all suffering from the “unquenchable thirst†for poverty reduction among the Chinese households. How I wish that only one minister out of our 69 ministers in Uganda had this thirst. It is even more gratifying that the Chinese growth is reasonably well-distributed within the Chinese population with minimum inequalities. It is this economic performance that has earned China international influence, including being a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It was, indeed, interesting to see how China exercised its veto powers to halt the American and the British onslaught on Zimbabwe in the recent UN Security Council resolution that would have declared comprehensive sanctions on Zimbabwe.
I am not an apologist to Robert Mugabe’s authoritarian regime (and indeed, I sympathise with the people of Zimbabwe that have suffered the full blunt of Mugabe’s tyranny), but only to emphasise how China has successfully checked the prevailing unipolar global system dominated by the US. That is why these days you hear people say “America is panicking as a result of Chinese advancement.†And, indeed, this is not without reason. A country that commands 10% of the global economic growth with 12% contribution to global trade expansion cannot be taken lightly.
In a recent book entitled: From Poverty to Power, The Role of Effective States and Active Citizens, Duncan Green refers to what he calls “The Economics of 21st Century,†where he introduces a concept of the “Asian Centuryâ€. This nomenclature derives from the fact that the Asian tigers and cobs, led by China, Singapore, Thailand South Korea and Malaysia have demonstrated the role of an “Effective State.â€
This is a state that focuses on transforming the lives of its people. In almost all these countries that have experienced phenomenal growth and development, this transformation has been achieved through investing in social sectors — education, health care, public works (for enhancing marketing infrastructure) and value-addition through micro enterprise development (as opposed to heavy industrial establishment) mainly on the poor households.
Another example of a transformative leadership and effective state is India that has leapfrogged to being among the first 10 largest economies in the world. India has achieved this using the cottage industrial philosophy. The cottage industries focus on supporting households to do business but the state facilitates the collection and marketing of products. The advantage here is low costs of production, hence, making the products competitive on the global market.
I have argued before and still hold that what fails Africa is lack of transformative leadership. Whatever political fine print, there will not be any robust economic or social development in Africa without resolving the question of leadership and political hygiene.
The writer is an international development consultant