To Tugrul Keskin, a delivery robot he encountered in a hotel elevator in Shanghai on August 31 was really impressive. "It is an example of the progress of China's technological revolution," said Keskin, who is director of the U.S.-based China Global Strategic Research Institute.

Keskin recently visited Shanghai, Yiwu and Wenzhou, three cities that are famous as pioneers in China's economic transformation, together with nine other experts from the United States and European countries. They met with farmers, businesspeople, scholars and officials during the trip to gain a deeper understanding of the Chinese path toward modernization.

Larry Catá Backer, a professor of law and international affairs at Pennsylvania State University, expressed admiration for China's high-speed rail network. He said China has invested tremendous resources into building its high-speed rail system, and the results have been remarkable. He hopes that one day, similar express train services will also be available in the United States.

After visiting Yiwu, the world's largest wholesale market for consumer goods in Zhejiang Province, Margit Molnar, head of the China-Morocco-Bulgaria Desk at the OECD Economics Department, said although many people had shared with her about their trips to Yiwu, experiencing the city in person exceeded her expectations as the sheer number of stores is overwhelming and the prices are reasonable.

The experts visited China from August 30 to September 3 to attend the Mingde Strategic Dialogue 2024, a series of events themed on Chinese Modernization and the Future of the World. The events were hosted by Renmin University of China in Beijing, and organized by the university's Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies. The main meeting was held at the university in Beijing on September 3.

The development these experts witnessed in Shanghai, Yiwu and Wenzhou, another city in Zhejiang, are representative of the modernization process taking place across the country, reflecting the recent changes in China's development and changing external perceptions.

Axel Goethals, CEO of the European Institute for Asian Studies, first came to China in 1978 and has observed the country's rapid economic development, reform and opening up. "China today is already a completely different country from five years ago and even one year ago," he said at the September 3 meeting. 

In Europe, most people and policymakers, media outlets in particular, do not believe how fast China is developing and changing. Most impressions and opinions are made based on stereotypes dating back 10, even 20 years ago, Goethals added.

Zhang Donggang, Chair of the University Council of Renmin University of China, said that he hoped the participants would take the event as a platform to leverage the unique role of philosophy and social sciences in bridging cultures and enhancing cross-civilization exchange.

The 'secrets' of growing 

"Since the 2007-08 financial crisis, China has contributed between 25 percent and 33 percent of world economic growth each year. So it's the main motor of world economic growth," John Ross, former Director of Economic and Business Policy for the Mayor of London and a participant in the dialogue, told Beijing Review.

"We know this because China's development, since reform and opening up began in 1978, is the fastest growth of any major economy in the whole of human history. This is not a boast. This is just a fact. No big economy has ever grown so fast for such a long period of time," he said.

Ross attributed the achievement to China's economic governance or the socialist market economy. "It means that it has a big state sector, but it has a large private sector, and it's running through the state sector. It can control its investment through the state sector, and it runs its economy by moving things up and down. Thus, China's economic governance is incredibly efficient," Ross explained.

Molnar underscored the role of effective market and proactive government in China's market economy. "It's not an easy question because all governments face this question. So you need to find the right balance between the market and the government. The government is not supposed to leave the market alone. The government is supposed to provide all the regulative framework so that the market can function properly," she added.

According to Yao Yang, Director of the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University, China's remarkable development rooted in its openness, pragmatic development philosophy and a gradual reform approach.

'Exporting' modernization 

China's development also benefits other countries, the participants agreed.

Wang Wen, Executive Dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, said at a financial and economic symposium in Shanghai on August 31, part of the dialogue, that China's economic development not only provides the world with high-quality and affordable goods and a variety of public services but also contributes to global peace and stability. 

Martin Jacques, former senior fellow of the Department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University, said at the meeting in Beijing that China is "exporting" modernization as it seeks to assist the economic development of other developing countries.

The Chinese path toward modernization is not only a national achievement but also an internationally significant innovation, Yao said, adding that over the past 40 years, China has integrated into the world through reform and opening up, achieving remarkable success in its modernization efforts, which has a profound impact on both China and the world.

Liu Qing, Vice President of China Institute of International Studies, said at the meeting that the Chinese path toward modernization not only shares common features with the modernization processes of other countries but also possesses distinct characteristics based on China's own conditions. "It emphasizes a balanced development of material, institutional and human aspects. The Chinese path toward modernization provides powerful impetus for global economic growth and offers a new paradigm of modernization for other developing countries," he said.

Call for communication 

At the Shanghai symposium, some of the overseas participants asked why China does not consider itself to be a developed country. Ross gave his own rationale for the question, saying that after over 40 years of reform and opening up, China has become the world's second largest economy. In many technological fields, such as telecommunications and green energy, China is now a leader.

In response, Liu Zongyi, a senior fellow with Shanghai Institute of International Studies, said as an emerging economy with a vast territory, China faces challenges from uneven development. There are also disparities in per-capita income compared to developed countries. Therefore, China addreses issues from the perspective of a developing country, Liu explained.

Wang highly praised these direct and in-depth dialogues, which allow the participants to gain a deeper understanding.

Klaus Larres, global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center and Richard M Krasno Distinguished Professor of History and International Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, emphasized the importance of maintaining open communication channels between the United States and China in military and political realms and advised against overreacting to minor fluctuations that could destabilize relations. Both sides should work together, leveraging their significant potential to improve the global environment and maintain stability, he added.

The media regularly misunderstands China's development and presents it as a threat, but exchanges such as these help ensure fewer people act on the basis of wrong information, Ross concluded.  

(Print edition title: China Up Close) 

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson 

Comments to taoxing@cicgamericas.com