Page 71 - IMDR EBOOK 20 OCT 2020
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"Pandemic and Beyond: Naviga ng the New Normal" E - Book Year 2020
How did China manage this? To every student of economics and management, this
provided a fascinating study. This study acquires a special signicance in the light of
Covid 19 pandemic which damaged world`s faith in China considerably. Covid 19
outbreak and the consequences are likely to result in to an exodus of manufacturers
from China. India is viewed as the best suited to attract many of those. To strengthen
our claim to win them over, we need to initiate many reforms. These begin with learning
the what, why and how about China`s emergence as the manufacturing super power.
Following article covers various aspects which deserve understanding if India plans to
emulate what China did, even partially
How China so completely outpaced India? The answer lies in understanding how China
handled the basic yet major aspects of the word Economic Development.
• Politics & Administration
• Productivity and People
Let`s take a look at what happened in China and India on these fronts.
Politics & Administration
For last 6 decades or so, China is ruled unhindered by the CPP or what we commonly
know as Chinese Communist Party. Under the Mao Zedong regime, China was shaping
as an agrarian economy. Till the decade of 70s, Mao and his successors kept China
secluded from rest of the world. Industrialization was restricted to manufacturing
items for domestic consumption and the raw material thereof. Chinese workers, both in
Agri-labour and in the state-owned manufacturing units had long working hours,
subsistence level facilities, no representation and no incentives. In the post Mao era,
Deng Xiaoping (1978 – 92) was the leader who saw beyond the horizon set by Mao and
realised both the need to go global and opportunities offered by China`s inherent
strength in both her political system and population.
This was the time when China had started taking rm steps towards globalization with
clarity and planning to match, under the leadership of Deng.
Deng is commonly credited to be the main architect behind China`s rise as economic
power and quite justiably so. After purging of the infamous Gang of Four as the power
holders, he assumed the supreme authority in Party before even holding any formal
position. Mao had indoctrinated the Chinese youth with a thought that “China Will
Rule The World.” Deng took this seriously and set about with a plan of giving it a
practical shape.
Rarely anyone would know that China followed Five Year Plan model since 1953. This
was the same as our “Panch Varshik Yojana” (This we later discarded and replaced with
a different, more customised model). Chinese were dead serious about employing this
model and did so diligently, from their rst Plan 1953 – 58 till the current one which is
the 13th Plan.
As against this, India has been a multi-party democracy. After the independence, India
too adopted the socialistic Five-Year Plan model. However, its actual implementation
always suffered due to an inept political system in which serving self or local interests
took precedence over the larger national cause. (Indian states, 29 in number now, still
act as 29 countries, with little common cooperative approach with national interests.).
Socialistic Model of Five Year Plans essentially requires a strong central body which can
plan and control the economic agenda. The initial few Indian Five-Year Plans hovered
around creating self sufciency in Food Grain Production because that was the basic
need during sixties and seventies. In seventies and early eighties the central authority
waned and the states started asserting themselves. Five Year Plan as well as the whole
Long Term Planning took a backseat in India.
On the other hand due to the diligent way this model was deployed, Chinese had set a
structure in its planning & implementation which was, due to sheer continuity,
sincerity and commitment, perfected over a period. Deng used this very model
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