China’s Economy Guides the World to Rethink the Essence of Development

In the long river of Chinese civilisation, several periods are called ‘golden ages’ because of their high economic prosperity, advanced science and technology, active trade and strong international influence. From the Reign of Cheng and Kang of the Western Zhou to the High Qing era of the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors, the ancient Chinese economy underwent a long and rich process of evolution. Modern China experienced many twists and turns; war and a turbulent social environment had adverse effects on economic development. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, after a difficult period, reform and opening up once again brought the Chinese economy to take off. The establishment and improvement of the socialist market economy system has gradually turned China into the world’s second-largest economy, with its economic influence growing day by day. It has not only driven sustained and rapid domestic economic development but also contributed significant strength to the global economy. As a unique specimen, the course of China’s economic development has always been a popular subject of study for overseas scholars. Our reporter recently interviewed Carles Brasó Broggi, professor in the Department of Arts and Humanities at the Open University of Catalonia, Spain. Broggi shared his insights on the history of China’s economic development, the similarities and differences between ancient Chinese and Western development models, and the main factors behind contemporary China’s economic take-off.

在中华文明的历史长河中，有几个时期因其经济高度繁荣、科技发达、贸易活跃、国际影响力大等原因被称为“盛世”。从西周的成康之治到清朝的康乾盛世，古代中国经济经历了漫长而丰富的演变过程。近代中国历经了诸多波折，战争和动荡的社会环境对经济发展造成了不利影响。自中华人民共和国成立以来，在经历了一段艰难的过程后，改革开放让中国经济再次迎来了腾飞。社会主义市场经济体制的建立和完善，使中国逐渐成为世界第二大经济体，经济影响力日益增强，不仅带动了国内经济的持续快速发展，也为全球经济贡献了重要力量。作为一个独特的样本，中国经济的发展历程一直是海外学者热衷研究的对象。本报记者近日采访了西班牙加泰罗尼亚开放大学艺术与人文系教授卡洛斯·布拉索·布洛基（Carles Brasó Broggi），布洛基就中国经济发展史、古代中国与西方发展模式的异同以及当代中国经济腾飞的主要因素分享了他的见解。

*Social Sciences in China*: In which historical periods did China’s economy stand out globally and positively influence world economic development?

《中国社会科学报》：历史上中国经济在哪些时期在世界范围内表现突出并对全球经济发展产生了积极影响？

Broggi: I believe China’s economy has had significant influence in multiple historical periods and has ranked among the world’s top economies in terms of economic status, as the British scholar Angus Maddison and many other economic historians also believe. Among these, a huge population is one of the key factors in ancient China’s economic development. The only exception is the period from 1840 to the 1970s; although China was still one of the most populous countries in the world at that time, its economic performance was unsatisfactory. This situation was quickly reversed after China’s reform and opening up. After more than forty years of extraordinary growth, China’s share of the global economy and population has now returned to the forefront of the world.

布洛基：我认为中国经济在多个历史时期都具有重要影响力，且经济地位位居世界前列，英国学者安格斯·麦迪逊（Angus Maddison）与许多其他经济史学家也是这么认为的。其中，人口数量庞大是历史上中国经济发达的关键因素之一。唯一的例外就是1840年至20世纪70年代，虽然当时中国依旧是世界上人口最多的国家之一，但其经济表现却不尽如人意。这种局面在中国改革开放后迅速扭转，在经历了四十多年非同寻常的增长后，如今中国的经济和人口数量占比又回到了世界前列。

Over more than five thousand years of Chinese civilisation, some dynasties performed particularly well in economic, scientific and technological development. From the Zhou dynasty, famous for its bronze ware, to the Han and Tang dynasties, the artefacts produced in China were very exquisite and spread throughout the world through trade. The Song and Yuan dynasties are widely recognised as milestones in the history of world scientific and technological invention and economic development, while the economic prosperity of the Ming and Qing dynasties was no less impressive; all of them had a positive impact on world economic development.

在中华文明五千多年的历史中，一些朝代在经济和科学技术发展方面表现尤为亮眼。从以青铜器闻名的周朝至汉唐时期，中国生产的器物都非常精妙，并通过贸易传播至世界各地。宋元时期被公认为是世界科技发明与经济发展史上的里程碑，而明清时期的经济繁荣也不遑多让，都对世界经济发展产生了积极影响。

The Four Great Inventions – the compass, gunpowder, papermaking and printing – are indeed outstanding achievements of ancient China in the field of science and technology. But we should go beyond this framework and understand these achievements from the perspective of global history of science and technology. These four great inventions did not exist in isolation or by chance. From the earliest rice cultivation in the Neolithic period, to traditional Chinese medicine’s modern conquest of malaria, to recent leading technologies in areas such as electric vehicles and clean energy, China’s scientific and technological development has had a profound impact on the world.

指南针、火药、造纸术和印刷术这四大发明诚然是古代中国在科技领域的杰出成就，但我们应该跳出这个框架，从全球科技史的角度来理解这一成就。这四大发明不是孤立或偶然存在的，从新石器时期最早的水稻种植到传统中医在现代对疟疾的攻克，再到近年来在电动汽车和清洁能源等领域的领先技术，中国科技发展都对世界产生了深远的影响。

International academia should re-examine some of the turning points in world economic history. For example, it is generally believed that Britain launched the Industrial Revolution in the mid-18th century and invented the spinning jenny. However, this kind of machine was recorded as early as the *Book of Agriculture* by the Yuan dynasty agronomist Wang Zhen, which is nearly 500 years earlier than the British Industrial Revolution. I think the point of this example is not who first invented the spinning machine, but the major shift of replacing textile workers’ hands with machines. Indeed, industrialisation has had a positive impact on the world economy, but its adverse impact on the climate cannot be ignored. As early as the end of the 13th century, Wang Zhen warned people to be wary of the possible adverse effects of machinery on social organisation and nature.

国际学界应该重新审视世界经济史上的一些转折点。例如，学界普遍认为，英国在18世纪中叶开启了工业革命，并发明了珍妮纺纱机。然而，这种机器早在中国元代农学家王祯所著的《农书》里就有记载，这比英国的工业革命早了近500年。我觉得这个例子的重点不是说谁第一个发明了纺纱机，而是用机器替代纺织劳动者双手这一重大转变。的确，工业化对世界经济产生了积极的影响，但对气候的不利影响也不能忽视，而13世纪末王祯就告诫过世人警惕机器可能会对社会组织和自然产生不利的影响。

In the late Qing period, the famous industrialist Zheng Guanying founded modern China’s first cotton textile mill and played an important guiding role in China’s early modernisation process. It can be said that China has not only made important contributions to world economic development, but has also guided (and continues to guide) us to rethink how development should proceed.

晚清时期，著名实业家郑观应创办了近代中国的第一家棉纺织厂，并在中国早期现代化进程中发挥了重要的引导作用。可以说，中国不仅对世界经济发展作出了重要贡献，而且引导了（还在继续引导）我们反思应该如何发展。

*Social Sciences in China*: What was the development model of ancient China? What was the relationship between the political system and economic development? Please compare the development models of ancient China and the West.

《中国社会科学报》：古代中国的发展模式是什么样的？政治制度与经济发展存在怎样的关系？请您对比一下古代中国与西方的发展模式。

Broggi: First, both ancient China and the West followed an agriculture-based development model, while the Silk Road connected China and the West. However, this connection was scattered, with the two sides mainly trading high-end goods such as silk or horses. In order to increase grain output and facilitate transportation, ancient China invested heavily in infrastructure construction, such as building the Grand Canal and various irrigation projects. Therefore, China’s governance model was more effective, complex and far-reaching than that of some European countries. Although China experienced war and division, for most of its history the country was unified, while the situation in Europe was the opposite.

布洛基：首先，古代中国与西方都是遵循以农业为主的发展模式，而丝绸之路将中西联系起来。然而，这种联系是分散的，双方主要交易丝绸或马匹这样的高端商品。为了增加粮食产量和为运输提供便利，古代中国大力投资基础设施建设，如修建大运河和各类灌溉项目，所以中国的治理模式比一些欧洲国家更有效、复杂、影响深远。虽然中国经历过战乱和分裂，但大部分时期国家是统一的，而欧洲的情况正好相反。

Second, both ancient China and the West had lasting impacts on agricultural development. China’s rice and Europe’s wheat shaped the long-term dietary habits of the people in these two regions, and these habits continue to this day. When we compare life expectancy, we must consider the dietary habits that have been handed down and are rooted in culture. For example, the dietary culture of the Mediterranean region and East Asia share a common historical origin, are closely related to their trade, and there has also been cross-cultural exchange and migration, all of which have made our dietary cultures rich and profound.

其次，古代中国与西方在农业发展方面都产生了持久的影响。中国的水稻与欧洲的小麦，塑造了这两个区域民众长期的饮食习惯，且这种习惯延续至今。当我们对人均寿命作比较时，我们必须考虑流传下来的、根植于文化的饮食习惯。例如，地中海地区和东亚地区的饮食文化有共同的历史渊源，与其贸易息息相关，双方也存在跨文化交流和移民现象，这些都让我们的饮食文化丰富深厚。

Third, some scholars believe that rice culture gave rise to more diverse political structures in Asia than in Europe, a point that can be seen in Marx’s theory of the Asiatic mode of production. According to this and other similar theories, Asian states, by monopolising land ownership to implement irrigation projects, produced an economic model different from that of Europe, namely feudalism versus capitalism. However, when the infrastructure of rice agriculture required a higher level of political management, we can see that ancient China’s feudal monopoly on land ownership and its capitalist practices in trade or manufacturing actually had parallels with other parts of the world.

再次，有学者认为，稻米文化使亚洲产生了比欧洲更多样的政治结构，这一点在马克思亚细亚生产方式理论中可见一斑。根据这一说法与其他类似理论，亚洲国家通过垄断土地所有权来实施灌溉项目而产生了与欧洲不同的经济模式，即封建主义与资本主义。然而，在水稻作物的基础设施需要更高水平的政治管理时，我们可以看到古代中国对土地所有权的封建主义垄断和对贸易或制造业的资本主义实践与世界其他地区却有类似之处。

Although China’s development differs greatly from Europe’s in terms of natural endowments, economic scale and development policies, the economic laws of the market, state intervention and social structures (such as feudal or capitalist relations of production) are largely consistent. For example, in ancient times, both China and Europe (and other parts of the world) had an agriculture-based mode of production whose development depended on climate and renewable energy. Although such societies had poorer economic conditions than modern industrial and service societies, there was greater equality among different groups.

虽然中国的发展在自然禀赋、经济规模和发展政策等方面与欧洲大不相同，但是市场的经济规律、国家干预与社会结构（如封建主义或资本主义的生产关系）在很大程度上是一致的。例如，在古代，中国与欧洲（还有世界其他地区）都是以农业为主的生产方式，其发展都依赖气候和可再生能源，这种社会虽然经济条件比不上现代的工业和服务业社会，不同群体之间却更加平等。

*Social Sciences in China*: China’s economy has achieved remarkable success since reform and opening up. Could you talk about the main factors of this success?

《中国社会科学报》：中国经济在改革开放后取得了举世瞩目的成就。您可否谈一下这种成功的主要因素？

Broggi: Since reform and opening up, China’s economy has achieved astonishing growth. This success is one of the most interesting topics in economic history. I think this success cannot be simply explained by one or two points, and the academic world has not yet formed a comprehensive theory of China’s development. But I believe the following points cannot be ignored. First, since reform and opening up, China has absorbed various opinions from economists and theorists at home and abroad, learned lessons from past experience, and invited scholars who study capitalism and socialism, as well as experts from the ‘Global South’, to discuss key issues of reform. I believe this open-minded attitude towards reform is very important. Second, the economic policies of reform and opening up were very pragmatic and gradual, completely different from the radical reforms of the Soviet Union. In the 1980s, China conducted experiments on a small scale or in specific industries, such as establishing special economic zones, while the government continuously evaluated the pros and cons before extending beneficial reform measures nationwide. Third, China’s demographic structure helped the rapid economic development. Young people who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s either chose to work in factories or go to university to receive higher education. They were a strong and disciplined generation that made significant contributions to economic development. Moreover, appropriate population policies also increased per capita GDP, and people’s living standards have been greatly improved. China has cleverly combined internal and external drivers, sustaining economic growth for decades, which is unprecedented in world economic history, while the living standards of its people have also been continuously improving.

布洛基：自改革开放以来，中国经济实现了惊人的增长，这种成功是经济史上最有意思的话题之一。我觉得这种成功不能由一两点简单解释，学界也尚未形成对中国发展的综合理论，但我认为有以下几点不可忽视。第一，自改革开放以来，中国吸收了海内外经济学家和理论家的各种意见，并从过去的经验中吸取教训，邀请研究资本主义、社会主义的学者以及“全球南方”的专家来探讨改革的关键问题。我认为这种对改革的开明态度是非常重要的。第二，改革开放的经济政策非常务实，也是渐进式的，与苏联激进式的改革截然不同。20世纪80年代，中国在小范围内或一些具体的行业进行试验，如设立经济特区，同时政府持续评估利弊，然后才将有益的改革措施在全国推广。第三，中国的人口结构助力经济快速发展。成长于20世纪七八十年代的年轻人要么选择去工厂工作，要么上大学接受高等教育。他们是强大且自律的一代，为经济发展作出了重大贡献。而且，适当的人口政策也提高了人均GDP，人们的生活水平都有了巨大的提升。中国将内生和外生动力巧妙结合，使经济增长持续了几十年，这在世界经济史上都是前所未有的，同时其民众的生活水平也在不断提高。

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