Pragmatism is guiding China’s economic redux
It has taken only 30 years for China to rise from the bottom to the top of the world’s economic rankings. How has it been possible? Ask 20 people and the answers you will get include “no idea,” “cheap labor,” “globalization,” “China Inc.” (the theory that China acts like a corporate conglomerate, using its sovereign wealth to dominate areas of the world trade economy) or the “Beijing Consensus” (the idea that China’s economic practices are part of a long-march political strategy to counter the “Washington Consensus” by offering a competing ideological agenda).
The irony is that those who express their ignorance are often a lot closer to the truth than those who are eager to give you their theories. One thing you can count on is that none of them will mention the Kunshan Way or the pivotal role that cities like Kunshan have played in China’s economic redux.
To understand economic development in China, you need to rethink some of the norms and assumptions which govern the relationship between government and business.
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