In 2024, China celebrated its 75th anniversary of emergence into the modern era after the People’s Republic was founded on October 1, 1949. It was an event marked with the spirit of national fulfillment, a reflection of the people’s power following the victory of the forces of the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by Mao Zedong, over the Western-backed Kuomintang of Chai Kai Sheik.
From then onwards, China announced its powerful presence within the comity of nations as a force built with the collective will of the people engineered by purposeful and visionary leadership across board.
China faced the challenges of modernisation but refused to bow to all the pressures designed to bring her to her knees. It embarked on “reforms and opening up” a policy introduced in 1978 by Deng Xiaoping to drive innovation and industrial capacity by reaching out to the outside world, which entrenched the Asian giant as a dominant player in technological achievements directed towards lifting the people out of poverty.
The results have been amazing as they are strikingly challenging such that between 1978 and 2020, about 40 years, China had virtually conquered poverty by lifting about 800 million people out of poverty.
But this is not the end of the story, China is just getting started because it again amazed the world in February 2021, when Chinese President Xi Jinping, declared “complete victory” in his government’s effort to eradicate rural poverty. His policies lifted the income of nearly 100 million people in eight years of his administration in what Nigerian experts have described as a challenge and a lesson to Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world.
With this declaration, the Chinese leader, who is also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said absolute poverty has been eradicated in the country with a population of about 1.4 billion people.
The stunning record of lifting about 100 million people from poverty in eight years was an unprecedented effort in human history as no other country has been able to achieve such a feat within such a short time.
With this declaration, all of China’s 832 impoverished counties and 128,000 of its villages have also been removed from the poverty list and China broke records by meeting the poverty eradication target set out in the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule.
Combined with poverty-reduction results since the late 1970s, China is responsible for over 70 percent of the global reduction in poverty over the period, World Bank statistics have shown.
This remarkable achievement was acknowledged by the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, who described this great victory against poverty as “the most important contribution” to the global poverty reduction cause.
The most significant declaration was perhaps the determination from the Chinese leader not to allow the country to witness a large-scale relapse into poverty and the vision of the leaders of modern China points to a direction that has shattered poverty forever.
The trajectory of Chinese economic success is anchored on disciplined, enlightened and dedicated leadership of the Communist Party of China with unrivalled pledge to stick with its poverty alleviation policies, while making some adjustments for a five-year transition towards what Beijing calls “rural revitalisation”.
Today, the world stands in admiration as to the transformation of China from a rural economy to the second largest economy in the world, and perhaps the largest manufacturing hub of the modern world in just over four decades.
China is a nation that formulated and developed visible and strategic plans for technological innovation, economic revival, political unity and social cohesion. These are variables that were reconciled by disciplined and patriotic leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) from 1949 when modern China emerged from the shackles and humiliation of colonial and foreign domination.
Summarising China’s experience in conquering poverty, Xi said the country has blazed a poverty reduction trail and formed an anti-poverty theory with Chinese characteristics, a vision built with the larger notion of building a world community with shared prosperity.
The CPC Party leadership provided a “political and organizational guarantee” for China’s poverty alleviation efforts. Faced with mass poverty, illiteracy and minimal industrial growth, China embarked on land reforms, basic education and social planning. It deepened investment in human capital development, liberalization and laid more emphasis on rural industrialization and foreign direct investment.
Identifying solutions to problems concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers was the chief concern of the CPC. The Chinese modernisation model was unique to its culture. It is the growth and development system that reconciles authority with the norms of the people and their will for greater achievements which define the Chinese characteristics.
China attaches greater importance to the pursuit of common prosperity, and its modernisation model embraces eco-civilisation, balancing economic growth with environmental protection , a major shift towards renewable energy , infrastructure development with its high speed rail, 5G and Artificial intelligence, and a digital economy that has connected people and businesses in profound ways.
Lessons For Nigeria , Others
China has demonstrated to the world that where there is will, there is a way. Nigeria and other developing countries have a lot to learn from China and some Nigerian experts in international affairs were apt that Nigeria must adopt policies unique to its character in order to develop in its own way.
The views of Livingstone Wechie, an international constitutional law expert capture it succinctly. He said
“Nigeria must have a defined development agenda, touching on our respective sectors, especially if it has to do with financial sector, economic sector as it concerns our resources, to build capacity for our citizens and grow our economy,” stressing that is the only thing that can save Nigeria and Africa from the debilitating poverty.
Director of Abuja-based Center For China Studies Charles Onunaiju, said Nigeria must emulate China’s milestone in Industrial and production capacity and strategically learn from China’s reforms and opening up, with massive labour reserve with low-cost, adding that China became the workshop of the world as a result of this unique advantage.
China as a post-industrial economy with its knowledge-and innovation-driven capacities, is open for Nigeria and Africa. Many Chinese firms are attracted to Nigeria and it behooves on Nigeria’s policy makers to engage priorities that accommodate specific China’s industrial convergence in Nigeria.
Nigeria must address her infrastructure challenge especially power and transport networks, which can be achieved through robust engagement with China. Nigeria can also exploit the opportunities of her potential as the next industrial frontier through mainstreaming with China and exploring the huge Chinese market by investing in solid medium industrial products.`
