A contrast is often drawn between the two rising giants of Asia– democratic India and authoritarian China. Many see the Chinese Communist Party’s monopoly on power as an essential ingredient in sustaining three decades of growth. China’s extraordinary tenfold GDP increase since 1978 is taken as evidence that economic freedom combined with political autocracy is the best recipe for development– especially for a huge, poor country with no history of self-government. But others question the assumption that a democratic China could not have achieved the same economic results. What is beyond dispute is that the boom could not have happened without Deng Xiaoping’s bold leadership– in the late 1970s, and again in the early 1990s; but also, that China’s authoritarian political system of one party rule has profoundly shaped the way in which China achieved wealth and power in the late 20th century.
Victor Yuan is chairman of the board, founder, and president of Horizon Research Consultancy Group, the leading polling firm on government policy issues in China, which he founded in 1992. Mr. Yuan has had 20 years of experience in professional marketing, social research and policy analysis, and management consulting. He has published more than 400 research pieces across various fields.
Among other prestigious posts, Mr. Yuan is Vice President of the China Marketing Research Association and President of the Beijing Consulting Association. He has been the anchor of Shanghai-based business TV show “Brainstorming” for two years. The show was recently rated the No. 1 Chinese language business TV talk show in Asia by a Singaporean-based Asian TV Festival. Mr. Yuan also has served as a long-term and strategic consultant for renowned multinational and domestic media and corporations both in China and abroad.
Mr. Yuan holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Peking University and an MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Many of my friends, 20 years ago, were very ordinary officials working for the government, or just workers, or even just farmers. But, now, they [have] become the richest people in China. So, why can we see all these ordinary people getting rich very quickly? Sometimes, this also puzzles me. But, sometimes, we can see clearly, because, in China, to be rich is the only way you can achieve social status. Many people ask me how China has achieved its economic record of the past 30 years. I think the single [most] important reason is that the door open and reformation policy has given the opportunity for entrepreneurship. Any person, no matter what kind of job they had before, can start their own business. In China, the only way you can have your maximum development is business area. I think, today, when we look at the Chinese model and it basically is very successful business development. Because, for that reason, in this area, it's like achieving the limitation, the level, that is much farther beyond the other countries, even those that started at the same time. Because, in that country, you have many other way to develop yourself. But, here, the only way you can do it [is through entrepreneurship]. In that sense, I would say China's boom is single-dimensional.
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