But while Bo’s Chongqing has become a capital for China’s New Left, it’s not the only model competing for the attention of China’s top leaders. Liberals and globally oriented modernizers have also drawn inspiration from local governments, especially reformist policies pursued by the governments of Shenzhen and Guangdong Province.
The city of Shenzhen, which has experimented with Western-style political reforms in a move toward the separation of powers, was the site of Premier Wen Jiabao’s controversial speech last August in which he forcefully argued for political change, while Wang Yang, the provincial leader of Guangdong and Bo’s rival for a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee, has focussed on the catchy theme of ‘Happy Guangdong,‘ calling for measuring growth with a ‘Happiness Index.’
The Post-Reform Economy
So what exactly do New Left thinkers believe the next wave of Chinese socialism is going to look like?
For a start, they say, it’s going to be a lot less like capitalism. They call for a major re-entry of the state into the economy, and point to Chongqing as proof that a large public sector can co-exist with a dynamic market. Over the past few years, as Chongqing has become a popular destination for factories relocating from the more developed coastal provinces, where wages and costs are rising, its GDP has grown by about 14 percent a year—much faster than the national average–providing fodder for left-wing academics to cast it as a model for growth.
The political scientists of the New Left are using Chongqing, which has encouraged the expansion of state-owned enterprises, to respond to the economic argument shared by many market-oriented Chinese economists that state investment ‘crowds out’ private enterprise (guo jin min tui).
However, Cui Zhiyuan, a Qinghua University professor who has spent much of the last year conducting field research in Chongqing, argues that in Chongqing ‘It’s not the state crowding out private enterprise…In fact, the state and the market develop together (guo jin min ye jin).’
Wang agrees, citing the growth of private activity in the city, which has outpaced state investment. In fact he dismisses the idea of crowding out, writing ‘This kind of idea not only has absolutely no theoretical foundation, but it’s been also been proved absurd by the practical experience of Chongqing…As the state’s absolute role in the Chongqing economy has increased, its proportion of the economy has decreased.’
In the Chongqing model, though, everything links back to the issues of poverty and inequality, and the government of Chongqing has turned the market profits of state-owned enterprises toward traditional socialist projects, using their revenue to fund the construction of affordable housing and transportation infrastructure. It’s perhaps not surprising then that Bo’s biggest policy hit is the affordable housing initiative for the city’s poorest. The massive construction programme aims to provide cheap apartments to a third of the municipality’s 30 million residents, a programme that has received national attention and clearly impressed the central government, which is rolling out a similar plan at a national level as part of the 12th Five-Year Plan.
Bo has tried to cast his programme as a step past the single-minded focus on GDP that has defined Chinese policy since Deng. ‘It’s not about how many tall buildings you have, it’s how happy people are,’ he argued in a 2009 speech to Chongqing Party members.
Such comments have echoes of the Happy Guangdong talk, but the statist raft of policies is a sharp contrast with rival proposals. The export-focussed province’s recent reforms have lookedoutwards, fitting closely with current debates among Western policymakers on improving urban quality of life.
But Bo’s remarks also allow him to set himself apart from the wealth-driven culture of major coastal cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou, flagship cities of the reform and opening era that have accepted significant inequality as the cost of economic growth.
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Gems
Great Article.
I read a lot chinese Leftest articles. I must say that this is a fair article that reflect the political current scenarios. Currently, the Rightest are in power and has been in power since Deng Xiaoping. They have all the propogenda tools and political resources. However, 30 years has accumulated a lot of problems that they can not solve. The leftest only got this small playground now to express themselves.
One thing I felt good is that this shows that china now has this self correcting ability. With this ability, the sociaty can perfecting itself and move forward. After 3.0, there will be 4.0, 5.0 and so on
Haeckelist
Thank you for this insightful article on a very important topic. I heard about this new phenomenon in Chongqing in another major newspaper, which dismissed it as nostalgic red flag waving.
Wilsonian Don J.
Fascinating article– although I don’t see anything maoist about Bo’s approach. sounds like social democracy to me.
Ji shiyu
The officials will keep looking for ways to remain popular, so long as they and their families can keep living the priviledged lives they so cherish. Whatever social equality is achieved between rich and poor, it is clear who the rich are going to remain…those connected to the top level of everything. Still, Bo’s popularity could be useful…it is rare to see a Princeling who is also “popular” like the “populists”.
Ikke
I agree, very insightful article!
EAM
Good article. We know too little of the debates that occur within China and within the CCP and it is good to see some of those debates aired. When I talk to friends from China, I am always taken by how open and robust the debates are among them – but getting little airing in the wider world. Nothing is taboo. Ordinary Chinese I speak to sometimes make comparisons with the Mao era and say “He looked after us ordinary people, not like now” but are also alive to the benefits of the high growth model. I remeber one said of socialism “shi hui zhu yi hao bu hao” (“it is good and not good”). The only book in English that covers these kinds of debates within China is Mark Leonard’s “What does China think”. Does any one know any other sources?
Frank
Not really.
If you cannot read Chinese and Chinese historical books, you will never understand China.
EAM
I agree that you need to read Chinese if you want to be serious in knowing China – but you also need to go beyond the official version as with any other country. Similarly, to really know India, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil … is also required – depending on which part of India you are interested in. But there is still plenty in English about both countries (and most other countries). Yasheng Huang and Minqi Li both write in English about China and books that are worth reading, also giving some idea of the diversity of debate.