SinceIarrivedinBeijinginmid-1975,IthinkIcouldwellbeconsideredasawitnesstothatprocess.IthasbeenknowntoalmostallthatinnumerableachievementshavebeenmadeduringthepastfourdecadesinChina.Accordingtohistorians,therehasn鈥檛beenacountrywithsuchalargepopulationinhumanhistorythathasmadesuchprofoundchangesandimprovementswithinsuchashortspanoftime.
Duringthepastfourdecades,Chinahasdevelopedintothesecondlargesteconomyintheworld,andforecastsshowthatitwilltakethefirstplaceinthenearfuture.Chinaisalreadyexcellinggloballyinforeigntrade,povertyalleviation,infrastructureconstruction,industrialcapacity,spendingonR&D,developmentofadvancedtechnologies,andglobalinfluence.Today鈥檚China,inmanyrespects,is鈥渁nothercountry鈥漜omparedtotheonethatIsaw43yearsago.
AsI鈥檝eexperiencedalotinpersonofwhathappenedsince1978,I鈥檇liketosharethreeaspectsofwhatIsawandthought.
First,Chinahasovercomemanydifficulties.AllthenegativeforecastsaboutChinahavebeenscotched.Overthelast40years,IhavekepthearingpessimisticforecastsandaccountsfromtheWestonthedifficultiesanddangersthreateningChina,suchasduringthe1997Asianfinancialcrisis,atthefalloftheUSSR,andthecollapseoftheso-calledsocialistcampinEasternEurope,thebirdflucrisis,orSARSin2002happened.Thesepessimisticforecastsemergedwithagreatclamor.I鈥檝eevenreadaboutsomesayingthatChinawasgoingtodisintegrateasanation,orthatacivilwarwasgoingtotakeplace.
ItistruethattheroadtraveledbyChinainthepastfourdecadeshasnotbeeneasy,andithashadtofacenumerousdifficultiesbothathomeandabroad.However,Chinahasmanagedtoovercomethemeveryyearandnoneofthenaysayershaveprovedtobetrue.Inspiteofthis,manyWesterncountriesarestillpreachingthenegativeaspectsinsteadofacknowledgingthepositiveinfluenceofChina鈥檚development.
InApril2004,theauthor鈥檚parentsstrollalongastreetofBeijingduringavisitofhim.BeforeandAftertheReformandOpening-up
Second,IwouldliketomakeacomparisonbetweenwhatChinaanditspeoplewerewhenthereformandopening-upbeganandwhattheyaretoday.In1978,mostofthefood(grains,meat,oil,etc.),fabricformakingclothes,andthemainindustrialproducts(suchasbicycles)wererationed.Asaforeigner,wealsoneededrationcardstobuyfoodandfabric.TheaverageChineseworkedeighthoursperdayfromMondaytoSaturday,restingonSundaysandtheyonlyhadsevendayspublicholidayswhichfellonJanuary1,May1,October1,andtheSpringFestival.
Restrictedbypoorinfrastructure,itcouldtakedaystogotoanotherplace.MarriedcoupleswhoworkedindifferentcitiesonlygottouniteduringtheSpringFestivalholiday.Thegreatestluxuriesusedtobebicycles,watches,radios,andsewingmachines.Friendsandfamilieswouldnotgoeatingatrestaurantsunlessonveryspecialoccasions.Travelingwithinthecountrywasanearlyimpossibledream,letalonearoundtheworld.
In1976,theMontrealOlympicGameswasongoingwhenIwasinBeijing.However,thePeople鈥檚RepublicofChina,boastingthelargestpopulationintheworld,couldnotparticipate.Notuntilin1979wasitallowedtojointheInternationalOlympicCommittee.DiplomaticrelationswerenotestablishedbetweenthePRCandmanycountriessuchasthewholeofCentralAmerica,Bolivia,Colombia,Ecuador,andUruguayofSouthAmerica.Besides,HongKongwasstillaBritishcolonyandMacaoaPortugueseone.
Whiletoday,Chinaisjustlikea鈥渘ew鈥漜ountry.Dramaticchangeshavetakenplaceinboththecitiesandthecountryside.Thegeneralstandardoflivinghasbeenimprovedalot.Rationinghasalreadybecomeathingofthepastasrestaurantsandshopsarecrammedwithcustomers.Inthepastfourdecades,thelifeofhundredsofmillionsofChinesepeoplehasbeenlargelyimproved.Ofcourse,povertystilllingersinremoteruralareas.PresidentXiJinpinghasadmitteditandhasprioritizedpovertyalleviation.
Today,peopleworkfivedaysaweek.Aspeoplehavemoreholidays,theyspendmoretimetravelingintheirowncarsorthroughotherrapid,modern,andconvenienttransportationoptions.Thenumberofoutboundtouristsincreasesyearbyyear,andinsomecountriesandregions,changeshavebeenmadeinordertoaccommodateChinesetourists.Inthefieldsofindustry,technology,andscience,Chinaisalreadystandingattheforefront.ChinesecompaniessuchasHuaweihavewonglobalfameintheratrace.
Doesthismeanthateverythingpriortothereformwasbad?Idon鈥檛thinkso.Aftermorethanacenturyofcivilwarandforeigninvasionsandhumiliations,Chinabegantoestablishitsownindustry(somethingalmostnon-existentbefore1949,exceptinthetextilesector)andtoguaranteeitsimmensepopulationaseriesofservicesandminimumrights.Besides,itbuiltlarge-scaleinfrastructureprojectstocontrolfloods,whichhadcausedhungerandmademillionstorelocateeveryyear.
Astothescientificandindustrialdevelopment,Chinahasbeendevelopingitsaerospaceindustrysincethe1970sandhasputintoorbitmanyartificialsatellites.In1959,thediscoveryoftheDaqingoilfieldlargelyboosteditspetrochemicalindustry,andthesamehappenedintheironandsteelindustry.Withtheconstructionoflargebuildingcomplexes,theironandsteelindustrydevelopedfast.In2016,theauthorreceivingaspecialmedalsignedbythekingofSpainfromambassadorofSpaintoChinaforhisexcellentcontributiontoChina-Spainexchanges.
InApril2018,theauthorwithCenChulan,SpanishlanguageprofessorofBeijingForeignStudiesUniversity,andherhusband.CharacteristicsoftheReformandOpening-up
ThethirdaspectIwouldliketopayattentiontoisthatthereformandopening-upwasagradualprocess.Itwasnotapolicymaderashly.Itremainssotilltoday.Themeetingwasheldattheendof1978,andconcretemeasuresdidnotfollowupuntilthefollowingyear.Infact,wordssuchasreformandopening-updidnotappearintheofficialdocumentsreleasedafterthemeeting;theywereinuseinthe1980s.
ThehistoricalsignificanceofthesessionliesinthefactthatitshiftedthemaintaskofthePartyfromtheso-called鈥渃lassstruggle鈥漷hatprevaileduntilthentoeconomicdevelopmentandexpressedChina鈥檚willingnesstoactivelylauncheconomiccooperationwithallcountries,aswellastointroduceadvancedtechnologiesandequipmentfromabroad.Thosearethehighlightsofthemeeting.
Astothereform,thefirstandmostimportantstepwastakeninthecountryside.Whileintheprocessofopeningtotheoutsideworld,oneofthemainpolicieswastheestablishmentofthefirstfourSpecialEconomicZonesinthesouth.
Insteadofimplementingmeasuresacrossthecountry,thegovernmentestablishedsmallpilotzonestotestnewpolicies.Iftheresultswerepositive,thenthosepolicieswouldbeextendedtootherpartsofthecountry.Thisallowedthegovernmenttocorrecterrors,toaccumulateexperience,andtotimelyadjustconcretemeasurestobetaken,aprocessdescribedinaChinesephrase鈥渃rossingtheriverbyfeelingthestones鈥漛yDengXiaoping,therenownedarchitectofthereformandopening-uppolicy.
Thus,reformswereadoptedfirstinspecificplaces,andthenextendedtothewholecountry.Inthelast40years,reformmeasureswereadoptedinthisgradualway,whichcontinuestobeappliedtoday.
InspiteofthenumerousdifficultiesitfacedandthepessimisticforecastsofsomeWesterncountries,Chinakeepsmovingforward.Thecountryhasbecomeabrandnewonethankstothereformandopeninguppolicy.Changeshaveoccurredineveryaspectofpeople鈥檚lives,theimageofthecountry,theindustrialandscientificdevelopment,andthepositionofChinaintheglobalarena.
Onekeytothesuccessofthereformandopening-uppolicyisthatithasbeengradual,whichgivesittheabilitytorectifyissueswhentheyturnouttobeunexpected.However,there鈥檚inevitablyanegativeside:corruption,environmentalpollution,andthegapbetweentherichandthepoor.Fortunately,theChinesegovernmenthasneverdeniedthemandhasexpresseditsdeterminationtoresolvethemwithbothwordsandactions.
PABLOROVETTADUBINSKYisaUruguayanwhorunstheblogReflexionesOrientales.