China at 70: Any growth lessons for us?

The author poses against a portrait of Mao Zedong outside Forbidden City in Beijing. (XN Iraki)

Modern China is 70 years old. The country has remained an enigma to policy analysts, economists and political scientists. To unveil this enigma, you need to visit China and delve into her history with patience and objectivity.

How are policies in a country of 1.4 billion people cascaded to the grassroots? How do you create uniformity in such a huge country? This can be explained by a simple fact: China is not just a country, it’s a civilisation dating back thousands of years, to quote Francis Fukuyama. The historical anchor gives the country an identity we miss in most developing countries. The African country that closely mimics China is Egypt.