The dynamic development in China has resulted in an enormous increase of wealth that on the other hand has created well-known deleterious side effects. Thus balancing conflicting developments through enhanced political coordination has become an urgent task. The 11th Five Year Program comprises a bunch of activities that aim at fostering a harmonious development towards a socialistic market economy.
Through various activities in the field of education, social and employment related policies the envisaged economic and political objectives are to be achieved. The concept of „building up new socialistic villages“ aims at improving the living standard of the rural population, thus counteracting divergent developments. The ongoing modernization process in China requires new concepts and methods. Quantitative growth is not enough. New industries have to be developed. The market orientation of reforms has to be enhanced. Innovation processes have to be initiated. Environmental issues have to be taken into consideration and structural and institutional reform processes have to be deepend.
Dr. Günter Schucher focussed in his speech on „New concepts for China's social development: ‚Scientific development' and ‚Harmonious Society'“. Official figures of 87.000 mass protests in 2005 have heated up debates regarding China's social and political development. There are many signals of a crises but there's no (system) crisis, according to Dr. Schucher. All these problems stem from the economic development that gives high marks to the central government for trust and confidentialty. A lack of trust primarily exists between people and local governments. That's why the central government increased pressure on local governments. The Chinese government and the Communist Party strive towards expanding the social basis. The political decision makers are aware of the problems, accept contraditions and try hard to improve their public management capabilities. The development strategy aims at balancing economic and social developments through promotion of social justice and legal reforms. The concept of a „harmonious society“ serves as new idelogical foundation of the Communist Party. The question is whether this is the right answer to the current crisis of trust. Despite democratic deficiencies the Chinese government and the Communist Party show high adaptability (to new circumstances). They provide mechanisms by which people can articulate their interests. But in a society that's getting more pluralistic civil society participation is still underveloped and interests of groups aren't taken into serious consideration (by policy makers).
The topic of the second part of the workshop was China's foreign policy. Prof. Li Yunlong, Institute for International Strategies of the Central Party School, lectured on “China as player in global policies”. In contrast to former times the PR China is nowadays highly integrated into global affairs, e.g. in the UN or with regard to China's involvment in the “6-party talks” to solve the North Korea conflict and the Iran conflict. China aims at intensifying relations to important countries through, for instance, strategic dialogues. Within the framework of the „Shanghai Cooperation Organisation“ (established in 2001 on China's initiative) the cooperation between China and central Asian countries shall be enhanced. Basic principles underlying China's foreign policy are the souveranity and non-interference in internal affairs of other countries. China's engagement in Africa is also in the interest of the African nations. In contrast to Western nations China imposes just a few conditions on cooperating countries. China's foreign policy serves primarily the economic development of the country, according to Prof. Li. China makes use of its influence but Chinese foreign policy is in its nature defensive. Reasons are historical experiences and the need to counteract worries about the “China threat” among other countries.
Dr. Karsten Giese lectured on „China's Soft Power Strategies and their influence in Asia”, applying the concept of Joseph Nye in his analysis. China succeded in building up relevant capacities during the Asian financial crisis (1997), the Irak war and the Tsunami disaster. China desires to present itself (to the outside world) as trustworthy and responsible partner that is willing to cooperate with other nations to the benefit of both sides. Examples for successful image campaigns are the „Zhang He campaign“ and the establishment of Confucius Institutes in foreign countries. The internationalization of Chinese media, e.g. CCTV 9, serves the same purpose. The image of a peaceful country that strives for economic and cultural exchange is created. These campaigns reach out to Asian elites. The common people in Asian countries often have a different China image. So do many Westerners, they perceive China differently than would be anticipated by China's policy makers.
In the third part of the workshop Dr. Margot Schüller lectured on “China on its way to a knowledge society: how fast can the goal of an innovation driven economy be achieved?” China aims at reaching the technological level of Western economies until 2020. This ambitious goal will only be achieved if China succeeds in overcoming barriers that hamper the improvement of innovation capacities. The current technology strategy is based on tapping local innovation potentials and absorbing foreign technologies. In terms of international patent applications, the current innovation capacities of the Chinese economy are quite low. If things doesn't change, China will continue to rely heavily on technology imports in the future. Political action is needed, especially regarding the protection of intellectual property rights and the adjustment of industry policies in line with WTO regulations. Otherwise China will lose ground in absorbing foreign investment to other countries, e.g. India.
Prof. Dr. Qing Lianbing, department of Scientific Socialism of the Central Party School, referred directly to Dr. Schüller in his speech entitled „From ‚Made in China' to ‚Created in China'“. China is a large production location but not a strong one. Labor intensive and low value added production in a highly competitive environment dominates in China. China is still the workshop of the world. When considered realistically, the dynamic economic development and innovative achievements may not conceal the various existing deficits. The society partially lacks an innovative conscience, e.g. regarding legal aspects. The provision of human capital is insufficient. The legal framework that provides incentive mechanisms for the improvement of innovation capacities is suboptimal and investment in R&D has to be increased. Taken the above mentioned deficits into consideration, ‘Created in China' is still wishfull thinking, according to Prof. Qing Lianbing. An appropriate legal and political framework that facilitates innovation has to be set up.
Fact-rich speeches and active discussions that were started up by short opening statements contributed to the success of the workshop and were positively perceived by the participants. Thus a high degree of efficiency of academic exchange could be achieved.
According to Dr. Schucher, the workshop provided a great opportunity for the German experts to network with Chinese researchers. Because it's not passive investigation that enhances mutual understanding but active exchange. According to Prof. Qing Lianbing, the very vivid discussions have proved that the academic exchange between Chinese and German academics is very important.
Ms Ulla Bekel, project director of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, thanked the School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies for their commitment to provide the platform for a constructive discourse.
The proceedings of the workshop will be be made publically available to the interested reader.
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