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Long-term planning is China's real edge
China's record
In a very short time China lifted the biggest country in the world by population out of poverty, and it has good reason to be proud of that. Many people in China are deeply skeptical of the authoritarian argument and willing to voice it, though the leadership has sold it successfully to many others. Looking at what is happening in the United States, a person in China can easily judge their own system stable, safe, and delivering year-on-year improvement, which is a surface judgment.
Democracies can plan too
Democracy without the ability to think long-term or set priorities at the national level ends up in a lot of trouble. But democracies have done it. Britain is a good example of one that learned, even in a very competitive electoral environment, that longer-term plans for national economic development are worth having.
Uniform, lasting action
What matters is being capable of uniform action that will still be in place some years down the line, and learning part of that from China is fine.
How do China's five-year plans work?
China has issued five-year plans since 1953, at first modeled on the Soviet example. Each plan sets national priorities and growth targets for sectors such as industry, energy, and technology. Provinces and ministries then write their own plans to match. The National People's Congress approves the outline of each plan.
How did a democracy like France plan its economy?
After the Second World War, Jean Monnet set up France's Commissariat general du Plan in 1946. It brought together officials, business leaders, and unions to agree on investment priorities for the coming years. The plans were indicative, meaning they guided private firms and state spending rather than ordering them. The commissariat was abolished in 2006.
How did China cut poverty so quickly?
The World Bank says roughly 800 million people in China have moved out of extreme poverty since the late 1970s. Reforms began in 1978, when farm households were allowed to keep what they grew above a quota. Special economic zones such as Shenzhen opened in 1980 to foreign investment and export manufacturing. China joined the World Trade Organization in December 2001.
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