The following quotations capture what is coming to be called the “Beijing Consensus,” namely the superiority of the Chinese model:
Report of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences:
China’s success in the past 60 years, especially after the opening-up, has surpassed the achievements of Britain during the Industrial Revolution and the US progress in the 19th century.
Thomas Friedman (New York Times):
One party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages. That one party can just impose the politically difficult but critically important policies needed to move a society forward in the 21st century.
George Soros (Speech in Paris):
The world does need order, and that order needs maintenance. The idea that markets can correct their excesses turned out to be false. Perfect order and global governance are not realistic expectations. However, it is a sad fact that Western democracies provide less successful leadership than China.
The growing consensus that China’s “socialism with a Chinese face” is superior to the “liberal” American model is based on three stylized facts:
- China is the world’s fastest growing economy,
- China weathered the financial crisis better than others,
- China is building a better infrastructure.
Hence the conclusion that the Chinese one-party state makes better economic decisions through an enlightened industrial policy executed by state enterprises.
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(photo credit: NeilsPhotography)
