The Significance of Effective Development in China

Abstract

In conjunction with development, assuring stability (wending)⁸ and welfare (fuli) have been viewed as imperatives by rulers throughout China’s history and remain so in the rationale of the Chinese Communist Party, which has had to contend not only with social disorder, but also with loss of credibility during periods of its reign. With these imperatives in mind, the Chinese government initiated an unprecedented path of reform in 1978 which has had a substantial impact on literally every aspect of society as well as the country#x2019;s foreign relations. Viewed pragmatically, this has brought about the world#x2019;s fastest growing economy and has at the same time — when evaluated in the overall perspective — yielded substantial material benefits for its population. However, the road towards development remains fragile. It presents significant economic and political challenges and also has troubling implications for both society and the natural environment. These are by no means insurmountable obstacles, but they need to be overcome.⁹ Successful economic growth is considered to be the pivotal means necessary to guarantee social stability and welfare, but more recently the government has also increasingly acknowledged the need to incorporate aspects related to quality and sustainability into its growth targets.¹⁰

Stability, in contrast to stagnation, is qualified by a set of so-called essential variables which are of relevance for the survival of a particular system and can be sustained against environmental interference over the course of time. These essential variables can only be sustained, if the capability to adapt to environmental changes exists. Otherwise the essential variables might be driven out of their specific limits by environmental changes which eventually would lead to a collapse of the system. (See Jochen Röpke (1980), p. 149 on stability and essential variables, who referred in particular to market economies in his essay and draws extensively on William Ross Ashby#x2019;s thoughts on stability and essential variables (for instance, W. Ross Ashby (1961), pp. 197–198).)

An insistent description of China#x2019;s potential to fail in its development endeavours was provided by Gordon G Chang (2001) at a time when many scholars and business observers still emphasised a continuation of China#x2019;s unprecedented rise. Liu Xiaobiao (2002), however, criticised those who consider China a threat or envision its collapse which, in his point of view, is based on worries about China#x2019;s unequalled achievements throughout the reform period. He noted that these thoughts on threat or collapse would be disadvantageous to China#x2019;s development and would also inhere risks, for instance, pertinent to the relationship between China and other countries. The standpoint taken in this work is neither dooming China nor it is an overly optimistic perspective of China#x2019;s development. Instead, challenges are characterised without bias to the extent possible and regarded as both opportunities and risks to China#x2019;s future development path.

Environmental protection is one example of this respect. Already in 1978 it was integrated into the country#x2019;s constitution, which led to the introduction of the Environmental Protection Law of the People#x2019;s Republic of China (for trial implementation) in September 1979 and the State Council#x2019;s consideration of environmental protection as a strategic task and national policy aspect of the modernisation strategy in 1983. The 1990s saw a considerable strengthening of environmental legislation and, notably, the State Council approved the White Paper on China#x2019;s Population, Environment and Development in the twenty-first century in March 1994, therefore China became the first country to realise a national Agenda 21 pursuant to the United Nation#x2019;s Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June of 1992. The implementation of these measures, however, is a different issue. Among the impediments hindering efficient environmental protection have been a lack of enforcement, conflicting interests among different authorities, insufficient equipment and human resources in environmental protection bureaus at different levels, and, last but not least, inadequate financial funds. (Cf. Hellkötter, Katja / Kleinbrod, Annette (2000), pp. 11–12, 16–17.)