Innovate the Development Model of World and Pursue Win-win Cooperation
Hu Dekun
Director of the Collaborative Innovation Center for Territorial Sovereignty and Maritime Rights, China
Chief Expert of the Wuhan University China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies, Wuhan University, China
As President Xi Jinping has pointed out, “Diversity spurs interaction among civilizations, which in turn promotes mutual learning and their further development.” Different civilizations in the world are not opposed to one another, but rather tolerant of each other. They have all developed through dialogues with other civilizations and are precious treasures of mankind, which is an extremely profound and accurate definition of world civilizations, especially for Asian civilizations. Marxism holds that human development is a steady process from isolation and seclusion to integration and openness. Asia, a vital cradle of civilizations, is blessed with splendid ancient civilizations. Jointly created by the Asian people, Asian civilizations serve as a valuable asset of civilization. However, in modern times, Asia was invaded by Western colonialism. Most countries were reduced to colonies and semi-colonies by Western powers, which retarded the development of Asian civilizations. Only after World War II did Asian countries gain independence and liberation, independent sovereignty, and the right to development. Only then did Asian civilizations have the opportunity to prosper anew. From the perspective of the development law of world history, it is the development of human society and economy that contributes to the emergence of various civilizations and determines their development level. Therefore, it is fair to say that the development of Asian civilizations also relies on the level of social and economic development in Asia.
The development of world history has its characteristics and rules. Since antiquity, it has moved from isolation and seclusion to connection and integration. Before capitalism emerged, world history was generally in the period of an agrarian society. Countries and nations of the world were in a state of isolated, secluded, and decentralized development. Since its rise in Western Europe between the 15th centuries, capitalism has been expanding wildly overseas. Especially after the Industrial Revolution, the Western powers spread their tentacles all over the world with their powerful ships and cannons as the spearhead and commodities as weapons. They have opened up the world market, broken the seclusion and isolation among countries and ethnic groups, and forced backward countries and regions into the colonial ruling system, thus turning the world into an inseparable whole. As world history shifts from decentralized to overall development, different dominant patterns of development have been formed in different historical periods. For a country or region, immediate adaptation to the new development model of the world will enable them to promote their social and economic development comprehensively.
Since the 15th centuries, the world has gone through three development models: aggression, self-development, and win-win cooperation.
The first is the development model of aggression. From the rise of capitalism in Western Europe between the 15th centuries to the end of World War II, aggression remained the ruling development model of the world. The prevalence of capitalism brought about a social transition from decentralized to overall development. Marx and Engels once noted, “The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, and establish connections everywhere.” [1]The technological advances stimulated by the two industrial revolutions in the 18th and 19th centuries enabled the western powers to launch crazy conquests and plunder all over the world by force and goods through the sea. By the early 20th century, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania had been successively colonized and semi-colonized by the West. Capitalism had finally established a unified colonial world, marking the transition of capitalism to imperialism. It finally turned the isolated, closed, and decentralized world into an inextricable whole. As Mao Zedong pointed out, “After the monster of imperialism was born, things in the world have become united. It is impossible to separate them apart.” [2]
Amid colonial expansion, Western powers invariably develop their own countries by invading and plundering other countries. A dominant development model of the world thus took shape—a model that seeks development through aggression and plundering or the development model of aggression for short. China and other developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America fell victim to this model. Since the imperialist period, all capitalist countries have continued to follow this old path. This fermented and intensified the three underlying contradictions in the world, namely the contradictions between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, between the suzerains and the colonial and semi-colonial countries, and between different capitalist countries. These conflicts were intertwined and intensified, causing numerous crises and wars. Although the world had been carved up by the western powers, imperialist countries still used this pattern developed since modern times. Subsequent imperialist countries coveted colonies commensurate with their strength and demanded a new division of their spheres of influence, so they challenged the hegemony of the old colonial empires by force. Two world wars ensued in succession, bringing endless disasters to all countries in the world and causing severe damage to society and the economy. Reality shows that the capitalist model of pursuing development by aggression has reached a dead end. Only by abandoning this model and creating a new one could the world economy move forward. It was the anti-fascist World War II that brought about this major transformation in human history.
World War II was a contest between fascism and anti-fascism on an unprecedented scale. The international fascist group headed by Germany, Italy, and Japan carried out frenzied aggression and expansion to conquer, rule, and enslave all mankind, pushing the model of aggression to the extreme. The world’s anti-fascist forces, led by the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and China, broken down the barriers between the two opposing social systems of socialism and capitalism and transcended the differences between different religions and civilizations. Under the banner of a united international front against fascism, they pursued common ground while reserving differences, and achieved an unprecedented international unity to fight together, rendering mankind more interdependent, interactive and supportive than ever before. The great victory of World War II was achieved at last. Afterward, a significant change took place in the post-war development model of the world.
The second is the model of self-development. From the post-war era to the early 21st century, the dominant model is peaceful self-development or self-development for short.
As World War II was won by the anti-fascist allies ravaged by aggression and threat, all of them have the right to share the fruits of victory. It was no longer possible for suzerains to continue to restore and maintain colonial rule after the war. A batch of countries embarked on the path of socialism. More importantly, colonies and semi-colonies became independent and sought development on their own. Therefore, the colonial system, which had been maintained for hundreds of years, disintegrated. This changed the inequality that a majority of the world’s colonies and semi-colonies were dominated and exploited by a minority of capitalist countries for hundreds of years. Instead, equality emerged as all countries, big or small, strong or weak, were sovereign states. With sovereignty, developing countries have the right to survival and development, and all of them, without exception, adopt the self-development model. For the capitalist world, World War II shows that seeking development by waging wars and conquering other countries is a path to self-destruction. The perpetrators such as Germany and Italy were defeated and surrendered, getting caught in the dilemma of survival and development. But even victors such as Britain and France were black and blue all over, losing their former dominant position. In particular, as the colonies they relied on before the war gained independence in succession, these victors were also confronted with life-and-death issues of survival and development. Such a situation forced capitalist countries to enact partial reform and adjustments to the relations of production without touching the capitalist system. With the reform of the development model at the core, they had to abandon the development model of aggression and adopt self-development. Moreover, all socialist countries chose to follow suit.
In short, countries of all types sought self-development after the war ended, and hence a new self-development model prevailed in the world. The development model of aggression benefits a few countries and harms the majority. Self-development, however, is beneficial to all countries. It is the major upgrade of the world’s development models since it provides once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for the growth of all countries. Peace and development have emerged as the prevailing themes in the world today. All countries are all equal, with growing interdependence. Science and technology are changing with each passing day. Social and economic development has never been more prosperous, taking world civilizations to a new height and breadth. Over the past 70-plus years, the economic growth in a post-war world has exceeded the sum of the past few centuries, even the past few millennia. This is the historic transformation arising from the replacement of the development model of aggression by the self-development model. China is also the beneficiary of this model. In particular, since the reform and opening-up, Chinese people have been focused on economic development and modernization, putting China on the road of high-speed development rapidly and making remarkable achievements.
The third is the model of win-win cooperation. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the model of self-development has begun to be replaced by the model of win-win cooperation.
At the end of the 20th century, the rapid development of high technology that centered on artificial intelligence and the revolution of information technology gave birth to the globalization of production, trade, finance, investment, consumption, and other fields, a trend that shaped the world economy and all related aspects. As it further strengthened the links between different countries and regions, a tidal wave of economic globalization emerged. As a result, various countries and regions were more and more integrated and inseparable from one another economically, turning the earth into a “global village.” And the world has entered the era of economic globalization as a whole, which became an irreversible trend.
Economic globalization is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it dramatically boosts the expansion of the global market and gets all countries closer in terms of time and space. The social division of labor is hence carried out on a global scale, and factors of production such as capital and technology, can flow and optimize their allocation internationally. This accelerates the world economic growth and provides rare historic opportunities for the economic development of all countries. On the other hand, economic globalization also intensifies international competition and influenced different economies to different extents. In economic globalization, the absolute advantages of capital, technology, information, and talent put developed countries in a favorable position. In contrast, developing countries are at a disadvantage due to an acute shortage of these resources. In particular, in dealing with the impact of economic globalization, some developed economies flout international rules out of self-interest and resort to unilateralism and trade protectionism. This jeopardizes the interests of other countries, especially in developing countries. As a consequence, the gap between developing and developed countries is widening, making developing countries poorer and wealthy countries richer. History proves that when developing countries, which are in the majority, are still in a backward state, the growth of developed countries will be restricted. It is thus evident that since the arrival of economic globalization, global economic growth has lost momentum. Ensuring the sustainable development of the world economy has become a matter of great urgency. The top priority is to innovate its development model, a significant issue of global concern and a common task for both developed and developing economies. It is against this background that Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed a new model of win-win cooperation.
This model is rich in connotation and consists of mainly four aspects. First, we should create a dynamic growth model through innovation. On March 5, 2015, President Xi Jinping said at the 3rd Session of the 12th National People’s Congress, “Innovation is the primary engine of development. Working for innovation is working for development and the future.” This is a profound summary of the world’s history. The history of the world moves forward through twists and turns. At every turning point of development, it is crucial to introduce new development models according to the requirements of productivity to lead the development of the world. Therefore, innovation is the primary driving force for the development of world history. With the advent of economic globalization, the post-war self-development model can no longer cope with the new changes in economic globalization. Instead, it is necessary to explore new models of a higher level to ensure the sustainable growth of the world in the context of economic globalization. Second, we should build an open and win-win cooperation model. In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017 in Davos, Switzerland, Xi Jinping pointed out that mankind has become a close-knit community with a shared future. Countries have extensive converging interests and are mutually dependent. All countries enjoy the right to development. At the same time, they should view their interests in a broader context and refrain from pursuing them at the expense of others. We should commit ourselves to grow an open global economy to share opportunities and interests through opening-up and achieve win-win outcomes. One should not just retreat to the harbor when encountering a storm, for this will never get us to the other shore of the ocean. We must redouble efforts to develop global connectivity to enable all countries to achieve inter-connected growth and share prosperity. Indeed, history and reality have both proved that as economic globalization has reached every corner of the world, no country can rise to the many challenges facing mankind alone. Win-win development can only be achieved when countries act in concert with mutual respect and equal consultation, pull together in difficult times, and promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. Third, we should develop a model of fair and equitable governance in keeping with the trend of the times. After the end of World War II, the Bretton Woods system consisting primarily of foreign exchange, capital and trade liberalization was established for the governance of the global economy under the leadership of the United States. In the 1970s, the governance was ruled by the G7, which is made up of developed Western countries. However, it became a knotty problem to the G7 following the arrival of economic globalization in the late 20th century. As a result, the G20 was established in 1999, a group of 20 developing countries, including China. The group includes representatives of developed and developing countries in all continents, account for 67% of the world’s population, 90% of the world’s GDP and 80% of the world’s trade. They are highly representative of the world but most of them are marginalized in global economic governance. In other words, the G7 continues to play a leading role in global economic governance to primarily ensure the interests of developed countries. This is unfair to the vast majority of developing countries and hence challenging to meet the needs of economic globalization. Therefore, all countries in the world should band together to develop a new model of fair and equitable governance. Fourth, we should develop a balanced, equitable, and inclusive development model. Xi Jinping noted that countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are all equal. We must respect each other and conduct equal consultation, pull together in difficult times, and promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. We should make economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced, and beneficial for all. In the face of economic globalization, China is committed to a basic fundamental policy of opening up and actively advocates and implements the Belt and Road Initiative. We will manage to achieve policy communication, infrastructure connectivity, trade connectivity, financial integration, and people-to-people connectivity. We will build a new platform for international cooperation and expand converging interests with other countries. We will increase assistance to developing countries, especially the least developed countries, narrow the North-South Divide and achieve interconnected development with other countries. China supports a multilateral trade system and the development of free trade zones and an open world economy. These four aspects constitute a win-win cooperation model.
Compared with self-development, win-win cooperation is an upgrade of the global development model. It fundamentally eliminates the negative impact of economic globalization and delivers the benefits of economic globalization to different countries, different classes, and different groups. Ultimately, it narrows the North-South Divide and promotes the social and economic prosperity of all.
Similarly, this new model is the best choice for Asian countries to deal with economic globalization. The development of Asian countries is unbalanced, with developed countries in the minority and developing countries in the majority. In the context of economic globalization, sustainable development is the absolute principle for all types of countries and civilizations. We must establish mutual trust in political terms, learn from each other in cultural terms, and choose the model of win-win cooperation in economic terms. In this way, we will be able to follow the trend of economic globalization and build an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and shared prosperity. In this way, we will enable Asian countries to realize their dreams through win-win cooperation and bring about an opportunity for the rejuvenation of Asian civilizations.
Translated by Mo Hao
[1]Marx/Engels Collected Works (Volume 232). People’s Publishing House. 1995: 276.
[2]Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung (Volume I). People’s Publishing House. 21991: 161.