China's development model has lead to unparalleled growth and growing pains. The country must adhere to its unique approach and ensure that it tackles the problems that have arisen from its rapid development.

China's rapid development has brought both huge benefits and certain problems, and there are those who believe that China's problems can only be solved if the country adopts Western-style democracy; however, this is merely wishful thinking. Developing countries which adopted the former Soviet Union model failed, and those which adopt the Western model seldom succeed. This conclusion is the result of both my own personal observations, having traveled to more than 100 countries, and reading a corpus of official documentation which support my observations. According to both the annual reports released by Transparency International, the most authoritative organization on corruption, and my own observations, many developing countries which adopted Western-style democracy, such as India, the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Argentina, Ukraine and Russia, were afflicted by levels of corruption which exceed those seen in China. In addition, we have seen the dysfunction endemic in those corruption-hit African democracies. The reason for these problems is quite simple. In poor countries, under the cover of democracy, corrupt individuals can easily gain power through fraudulent electoral practices and, once elected, enjoy the protection of democratic legitimacy, which shields them from censure and sanction. .

Further examples abound. Sudden political transformation paralyzed both the Russian and Ukrainian governments. Among the "Four Asian dragons", South Korea and Taiwan adopted Western-style democracy following their economic bounce back. Corruption, though, remained a serious problem. In contrast, Singapore and Hong Kong, which did not adopt Western practices, have been the most successful in Asia in terms of fighting corruption. They were able to succeed by establishing societies which are governed by law and include integral anti-corruption mechanisms which deter those who are inclined to behave dishonestly.

Due to its obvious differences, China's model has its own special characteristics.

As a large country which has endured long periods of turmoil, China has found a way to balance the relationship between stability, reform and development. While maintaining social stability, China unswervingly carried out the policy of reform and opening-up and as a result witnessed more than 30 years of rapid development which laid the foundation for its rise to the status a strong world power.

China's modernization process was very much a practical process, as the country sought to meet the most urgent requirements of its people. First and foremost, China has achieved great success in poverty reduction and has made a significant contribution to global poverty reduction over the past two decades. The number of people escaping poverty in China accounted for 70 percent of the global figure, and this is especially significant in light of the fact that global poverty reduction is currently the world's most pressing issue. More than half of the world's population still lives in extreme poverty and between 800 and 900 million people are still afflicted by hunger.

By summarizing both its own experiences and lessons and those of other countries, China has introduced bold, yet measured systematic changes. Proposed new reforms have usually been introduced as pilot programs in specific areas and, if found to be successful, have been extended to other areas. This practice has helped China to avoid going down the same road as those developing countries and transitional economies which blindly adopted the Western model. It has also helped China to successfully withstand both the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the current ongoing financial crisis which originated in the United States in 2008. On a visit to Indonesia in 2005, a local scholar told me that the Asian financial crisis had destroyed his country's development achievements of the previous 20 years.

China's success also depends on the country introducing reforms gradually. China's aim was not to completely shatter and rebuild its system, but rather to improve the existing system so as to make it serve the modernization process. China has also prioritized its reform process, beginning with more simple factors and gradually extending to more complicated ones.

China has been thoughtful and balanced in evaluated other countries' strong points, but has never blindly copied other countries' development models.

China's model has, though also produced many problems. Some problems are very severe and required urgent resolution, such as inadequate development of some markets due to excessive government intervention, industry monopoly, and corruption due to lagging political reform. In addition, the wealth gap, ecological problems, educational problems and medical problems have also given rise to widespread discontent and it is crucial that China finds ways to solve these problems which will, in turn, lead to even greater opportunities for development in the future.

Zhang Weiwei is professor of international relations at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and senior research fellow at the Centre for Asian Studies, Geneva.

This article was first published in Chinese and translated by Zhang Ming'ai.

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