The terms “China Model” and “Beijing Consensus” are becoming fashionable in China and abroad to describe the mix of authoritarianism and market economics that has characterized China’s rise.
A book recently published in China, The China System: Reading 60 Years of the People’s Republic of China (中国模式—解读人民共和国的60年), has compiled writings by various scholars of the subject, most of whom are very enthusiastic about the idea.
But there are many commentators, in China and elsewhere, who find fault with the model, or deny that is replicable.
The Economist has published a piece titled “The China model — The Beijing consensus is to keep quiet“, summarized thusly:
In the West people worry that developing countries want to copy “the China model”. Such talk makes people in China uncomfortable.
The China Media Project has also commented on the publication of The China System in a post titled The China Model, matter or myth? The post includes a translation of an essay written by Hua Sheng (华生) for the Economic Observer. Excerpt:
The China Model We Could Have But Don’t
I’m talking today about the China Model. My view is quite simple. I think that while “China Model” is useful as a fashionable term, it’s something we don’t yet have. The most we can say is that China is seeking its own road, searching for its own way forward. But this cannot be called a model, because it’s still unclear, unformed and unstable.