China becomes "another planet" through reform

LONDON, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- "China has changed into quite another planet through the three decades of reform and open policy, and its development is benefiting the whole world," a senior Asia expert said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

To feed 1.3 billion people on 7 percent of the world's arable land itself is a miracle, a great achievement in the world economic development, said Prof. Athar Hussain, director of the Asia Research Center of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

It is also an outstanding progress in terms of human rights, as so many Chinese, formerly on the brink of hunger and cold, are getting well-fed and warm, he said.

Hussain was born in India and spent his early years in Pakistan. He received his master degree of economy in Oxford University.

China is now a very open country, where you can see cars of almost every make, hotels of most big names, but over 20 years ago it was quite another story when visitors would often go hungry if he or she failed to have food by 6:30 p.m., said Hussain, who has been to China for no less than 50 times.

Now, "it really is quite another planet, and a planet that's still changing fast," he said.

One could buy fruits from Thailand, takeaways from McDonald's, fashions of most big European and American brands, and one could also enjoy a sip in Starbucks scattering in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, Hussain said.

"If you get bored of seeing mainly Europeans in luxurious hotels, you should be ready to see more local consumers in expensive places in the country," Hussain said.

The newly-rich Chinese people are becoming a big consuming power in the world, he said.

For instance, the 70,000 Chinese students in Britain have become a source of income for many schools here, Hussain said.

Also, products made in China and exported to many countries have benefited people with lower prices and made people in the world "wealthier," Hussain said.

In fact, many countries which establish factories in or do outsourcing from China are benefiting from China's booming economy, the Asia expert said.

Some Westerners are puzzled by the notion of "socialism with Chinese characteristics," but any serious China watcher would not fail to find that these words truly describes the mode of China's development in the last three decades, he said.

China's development mode is a natural and historical choice, he said.

Though export-oriented manufacturing industry has contributed much to its economy, China's development means much more. It started first of all from land reform which freed farmers from the land in rural areas where centralized economy resulted in food scarce before the reform and open policy was adopted by the end of1978, Hussain noted.

The free flow of workforce proved to be a big stimulus to the country's economy which witnessed double-digit growth for over 20 years, he said.

The mastermind of all these changes, Hussain said, was Deng Xiaoping, who insisted over 30 years ago that "socialism does not means poverty," and his idea that the country should concentrate on economic development, not on political movement, as it did during the Cultural Revolution.

Deng, who won respect from almost every sector of the country, laid out a sound basis for China's re-emergence onto the world stage, Hussain said, adding that the idea of harmonious development raised by Chinese President Hu Jintao is a timely remedy to tackle the new problems that are cropping up as reform continues.

"More should be done in such areas like environmental protection, which will benefit not only China itself, but the rest of the world," he said.