Both Western and Chinese modernization are crucial components of global modernization, said Jin Ge, assistant to the director of the Institute of Area Studies at Peking University, adding that China's development success, achieved without first-mover advantages, holds particular relevance and exemplary significance for countries from the Global South.
BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese modernization is not a model imposed on others; instead, it will encourage more countries to follow their own paths to prosperity and strength, a senior Chinese expert in regional studies has said.
In an interview with Xinhua, Jin Ge, assistant to the director of the Institute of Area Studies at Peking University, said that the essence of modernization is a country's ability to craft and implement an effective strategy to solve its own problems.
After World War II, Western countries, led by the United States, experienced rapid economic and social development. Emulating the Western model became the goal and consensus of many countries seeking progress at that time, said Jin.
"However, since the 1980s, countries in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia have realized that imported Western modernization theories did not deliver the promised prosperity and development," he said.
The scholar said that Western modernization theories were developed based on the unique social characteristics and resource endowments of those countries, giving them first-mover advantages that many developing countries do not possess.
First-mover advantages are competitive benefits that a company or country gains by being the first to enter a new market or develop a new product or service, including economies of scale, control over resources, technological leadership, network effects and others.
"Thus, failing to understand modernization from the perspective of their own resources and history and merely adopting Western theories have unfortunately led to incompatibility," Jin said.
Both Western and Chinese modernization are crucial components of global modernization, Jin said, adding that China's development success, achieved without first-mover advantages, holds particular relevance and exemplary significance for countries from the Global South.
"Chinese modernization has always emphasized starting from its own conditions and specific realities, so it is not an imposed model," Jin said.
"Economics, engineering, medicine, and philosophy are among the most preferred fields of study for students and scholars from developing countries who come to China for further education," Jin added.
According to a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, China is the second most popular destination for African students pursuing higher education abroad, after France.
"China's development achievements have culturally and spiritually encouraged Global South countries," Jin said, adding that the core spirit of independence, self-reliance, and peaceful development embodied in Chinese modernization will inspire the modernization efforts of Global South countries.
The core spirit of Chinese modernization opposes hegemony and conflict, and China's successful development experience contrasts sharply with the Western theories of the "clash of civilizations" and the "end of history," he said.■
