The Rise of State Led Development Strategies

A state-led developmental state is also known as a herd state or a developmental state. A state-led or a developmental state is a country that collectively addresses developmental issues facing the country, as well as any other challenges affecting the citizens. In every developmental state, citizens matter the most and therefore the government ensures that the interests of the people are safeguarded. A nation that does not value the interests of the people is incapable of addressing challenges that may be hindering the country’s economic growth. State-led development strategies in the Asian countries can be traced back to the late 20th century. Approximately seven million Chinese citizens have been lifted from extreme poverty by the government. China is one of the most populated countries on earth, but its global economic might is unthinkable.

In fact, China has overtaken the Soviet Union and the United States as the world’s global economic leader. Majority of the Asian community avoid engaging in competition with China (Tang, 2013). Today, Scholars around the world debate on how far the Chinese ideas popularly know as the Beijing consensus would spread into the international market given the fact that China is gradually transforming into a giant global economic leader. However, in 2014 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) declared China as the “world’s largest economy measured by purchasing-power parity (PPP)” (Li, 2015). The United States used its dominance impact in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reinforce its relationship with developing nations donating support through American-based reforms. Majority of the developing countries had no alternative than to embrace the US-backed reforms in a bid to get support.

That has however been gradually changing. Statics show that in 2015, more than forty countries joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which is led by China. On the contrary, China has been rapidly evolving into a state-led state, focusing on both matters affecting her citizens as well as offering financial aid to developing countries globally. According to the Chinese government, it is prudent to adopt state-led policies and strategies than adopting western ideologies that are deemed threats to the development status of the country. Similarly, the western countries deem the Chinese ideologies as threats. Historically, there is no country that has ever engaged the western countries into a bruising battle for economic supremacy like China has done. Scholars view the Chinese model of development as one of the best.

In fact, studies have shown that some countries that have emulated the western economies have failed terribly. China decided to move on her own reform path and today it boasts the biggest economy beating long-time reigning superpowers such as the United States of America. The success story of the China economy started the decades ago and the rate at which China has transformed remains to be shocking to the world. After the cold war, China took a different path from the western ways and the country’s economy has remarkably grown to greater strengths. The bizarre thing about China’s economy is the speed at which it has evolved in just a span of three decades, overtaking world superpowers. The state has played a key role in stimulating economic growth.

After the global financial crisis, Beijing initiated active state-programs to foster growth and eradicate the biases brought by the unbridled market. China’s political economy stagnates around an area where the majority of the sectors are marketized and further integrated with the global economy. However, studies have shown that strategic industries within the country remain under the strict control of the state. The lack of a competitive political party system in the country has helped the state to strategically regulate a large sector of the economy. China sought to strengthen its economic stability before anything else thus adopting state-led policies. Today, most countries are replicating the same in a bid to strengthen their economies. Degradation of the western economies has compelled the western countries to replicate the Chinese developmental model.

China’s path to global economic superpower may have happened in a short span but the road to success is always coupled by myriad challenges. It was anticipated that the country would collapse in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen protests. The Chinese state-led development model is the best developmental model that most countries prefer for a better developmental transition. References Li, H. The Chinese Model of Development and Its Implications.  World Journal of Social Science Research, 2(2), 128. Raess, D.  China economic review, 17(4), 395-411. Tang, R. N. Chinese Economic Policy in the 21st Century: Growth, Imbalance, and Considerations for Australia.  Inquiries Journal, 5(08). International monetary fund. Fang, C.  China’s economic growth prospects: From demographic dividend to reform dividend. Edward Elgar Publishing. Wu, Y.