Will China change international development as we know it?

Abstract

China has lifted a record number of people out of poverty, has had sustained levels of economic growth-at environmental and social costs-started a global economic and political rise and is developing effective responses to the global financial crisis. It is making these transformations with institutions that continue to surprise international observers. An increasing number of studies have started to articulate the lessons from China's development. This paper reviews the different interpretations of these lessons, and the process of lesson learning, and the question what China's dramatic transformations over the last 30 years imply for development studies and practice.

Governing the Global Land Grab: Multipolarity, Ideas, and Complexity in Transnational Governance

“…Exceptions remain, such as emerging powers limited inroads at the IMF and World Bank evident in these countries' voting shares (Wade, 2011). However the power shift is evident even within these institutions, as the increased prominence of emerging powers in foreign aid is changing the theory and practice of global development and no longer the exclusive remit of the North (see de Haan, 2011;Walz and Ramachadran, 2011;TanMullins, Mohan and Power, 2010;Dauvergne and Farias, 2012). This change has been called a 'silent revolution' in global development (Woods, 2008).…”

Beyond the Enclave: Towards a Critical Political Economy of China and Africa

“…Commercial engagements have thus come to play a central role in China's strategy to strengthen its economy. In addition to capital formation, market‐seeking exports are another impetus, with de Haan () noting that while imports from Africa are primarily in oil and gas, exports include machinery, vehicles, textiles and manufactured products.…”

Teaching Development Studies in Japan: Navigating Between Eastern and Western Discourses of Development

“…Nevertheless, much of what is attributed by Western analysts to the Chinese development approaches in Africa applies also to Japan's approaches in East Asia. Thus, de Haan's (de Haan, ) characterisation of Chinese aid strongly resonates with how Japanese aid used to be characterised by critics both domestic and international (Rix, ; Murai, ). The close linkage between aid and business communities to promote industrialisation through infrastructure building and investment has been said, at one time or another, to characterise Japan's ODA (Söderberg, , p. 113–115).…”

“…The close linkage between aid and business communities to promote industrialisation through infrastructure building and investment has been said, at one time or another, to characterise Japan's ODA (Söderberg, , p. 113–115). China's emphasis on supporting developing countries' ‘self‐reliance’ (Brautigam, , p. 35; de Haan, , p. 887) has also been the fundamental pillar of Japan's ODA policy for the last 20 years (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, , p. 2).…”