Chinese academics tout alternative path to modernisation at forum
- State-sponsored conference told that Western development model doesn’t represent the future of ‘political civilisation’
- Speakers say China’s approach is more sustainable than the West’s, which is ‘heavily focused on material aspects’
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China is on an alternative path to modernisation that is more sustainable than the Western development model, academics told a state-sponsored forum.
The China studies conference was hosted by the State Council Information Office on Friday. A letter from the president was read out at the gathering of hundreds of Chinese and foreign academics in Shanghai.
At a panel event, Su Changhe, a professor at Fudan University’s School of International Relations and Public Affairs, said a key cause of turmoil in the world was that many countries had tried to copy the Western development path.
Su said that model did not represent the future of “political civilisation”.
“Now, as countries explore their own development paths – including China’s progress – the previously dominant or monopolised global knowledge landscape of the West is beginning to shift,” he said.
He added that the changes taking place in China were not unique to the country but encompassed “general knowledge about the path to human modernisation”.
Zhang Zhiqiang, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Philosophy, said China’s model could guarantee both economic development and social stability.
“In the course of modernisation in the West, long-term economic development has inevitably brought conflict and polarisation,” he said. “But in China, a positive correlation has formed between economic development and long-term social stability.”
Xi highlights importance of innovation in ‘Chinese-style modernisation’
Zhang Guanzi, director of the Institute of Information Studies at the same academy, said China’s path was more sustainable than the West’s, which was “heavily focused on the material aspects of modernisation”, leading to environmental and other challenges.
“In just a few decades, China has achieved what it took developed countries several centuries to do – demonstrating a potential and capacity to overtake them on progress,” he said.
Beijing has been trying to push a narrative that its development path offers an alternative to the Western approach.
At Friday’s forum, in a letter read out by Li Shulei, the party’s propaganda chief, Xi said: “Chinese civilisation has a long history and has been enriched by exchanges and mutual learning with other civilisations in the world, giving Chinese-style modernisation a profound heritage.”
The organiser said more than 400 experts and academics from China and countries including Poland, Germany and South Korea attended the conference. Its theme was “Chinese civilisation and China’s path – a global perspective”.
While many speakers highlighted the advantages of China’s approach to modernisation, some stressed the importance of cooperation with other countries.
Also at the panel event, Yang Jiemian, director of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies’ academic committee, said China’s development should not be seen as a “national solo” but as a “global orchestra”.
Wu Xiaoming, a philosophy professor at Fudan University, said China was seeking a path suitable for its own circumstances after learning from other nations.
But he said that did not mean the country should pursue isolationism. “Quite the opposite – such independence means that we need to be capable of truly establishing ourselves after the process of learning from others.”
