The Beijing Consensus () or China Model (), also known as the Chinese Economic Model, is the political and economic policies of the People's Republic of China (PRC)Zhang Weiwei, "The allure of the Chinese model" , International Herald Tribune, 2 November 2006. that began to be instituted by Hua Guofeng and Deng Xiaoping after Mao Zedong's death in 1976. The policies are thought to have contributed to China's "economic miracle" and eightfold growth in gross national product over two decades."Commentator doubts efficacy of "Chinese model" for Iran"| BBC Monitoring Middle East - Political [London] 4 May 2002: 1. In 2004, the phrase "Beijing Consensus" was coined by Joshua Cooper Ramo to frame China's economic development model as an alternative—especially for developing countries—to the Washington Consensus of market-friendly policies promoted by the IMF, World Bank, and U.S. Treasury. In 2016, Ramo explained that the Beijing Consensus shows not that "every nation will follow China's development model, but that it legitimizes the notion of particularity as opposed to the universality of a Washington model".
The term's definition is not agreed upon. Ramo has detailed it as a pragmatic policy that uses innovation and experimentation to achieve "equitable, peaceful high-quality growth", and "defense of national borders and interests", whereas other scholars have used it to refer to "stable, if repressive, politics and high-speed economic growth". Others criticize its vagueness, claiming that there is "no consensus as to what it stands for" other than being an alternative to the neoliberal Washington Consensus, and that the term "is applied to anything that happens in Beijing, regardless of whether or not it has to do with a 'Chinese Model of Development,' or even with the People's Republic of China (PRC) per se".
Characteristics In academic literature on economics the study of the modern People's Republic of China (PRC) is influenced by parallel academic evaluations of neoliberalism. The China Model is sometimes used interchangeably with the Beijing Consensus, though there are people who state "it is inaccurate to describe the Chinese model as the 'Beijing consensus' versus the 'Washington consensus'."
As of at least early 2024, there is not yet a well-developed theoretical framework for a Chinese Model. Commentators have cited various aspects of China's historical experience to describe their views of such a model. There is general scholarly agreement that the four key characteristics of the concept are: (1) development is key to promoting peace and stability, (2) incremental political reform better promotes peace and stability than sudden reform, (3) robust state capacity is critical to implementing development plans and managing conflicts within a country, and (4) preserving sovereignty and independence are important to peace and stability.
For example, Academic Zhang Weiwei characterizes the model as focusing on down-to-earth pragmatic concern with serving the people; constant trial and error experimentation; gradual reform rather than neo-liberal economic shock therapy; a strong and pro-development state; "selective cultural borrowing" of foreign ideas; a pattern of implementing easy reforms first, difficult ones later. Researcher John Williamson describes the Beijing Consensus as consisting of five points: Incremental Reform (as opposed to a Big Bang approach), Innovation and Experimentation, Export Led Growth, State Capitalism (as opposed to Socialist Planning or Free Market Capitalism), Authoritarianism (as opposed to a Democratic regime type).
Observations of Western commentators sometimes characterize the model as replacing trust in the free market for economic growth with "a more muscular state hand on the levers of capitalism", an absence of political liberalization, strong leading role of ruling political party, and population control.'India should adopt Chinese model' The Statesman [New Delhi] 14 Nov 1999: 1.
Development The terminology of a "Beijing consensus" began to attract discussion following a 2004 article of that name by Joshua Cooper Ramo.
The model received considerable attention following the 2008-9 severe economic downturn as Western economies faltered and recovered slowly while Chinese economic growth remained dynamic; comparisons began to portray the China Model or the "Beijing Consensus" as China's alternative to the "Washington Consensus" liberal-market approach. China's resource mobilization for the hosting of the 2008 Olympics also resulted increased discussion of the China model idea.
Discussion of the China model also increased during the tenure of Xi Jinping and his promotion of the China Dream.
As China's economic growth has continued, the China Model or the "Beijing Consensus" as a template has grown more popular around the world. According to Indonesian scholar Ignatius Wibowo, "the China Model clearly has gained ground in Southeast Asia" as countries there "have shifted their development strategy from one based on free markets and democracy to one based on semi-free markets and an illiberal political system." Under Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping, China has become an active participant: launching the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), increasing foreign aid and investment around the world, and by providing training in economic management and various civil-service skills for more than 10,000 bureaucrats from other developing countries. The training includes sessions where China's successes in improving living standards are promoted.
Analysis
Joshua Cooper Ramo The term was coined in a United Kingdom's Foreign Policy Centre paper by Joshua Cooper Ramo titled The Beijing Consensus. Ramo framed his discussion around China's economic development model as an alternative—especially for developing countries—to the Washington Consensus of market-friendly policies promoted by the IMF, World Bank, and U.S. Treasury."International Political Economy Zone: Is There a Beijing Consensus?" His paper laid out three broad guidelines for economic development under what he called the "China model".
The first guideline involves a "commitment to innovation and constant experimentation." One of the major criticisms of the Washington Consensus is its complacency. Ramo argues that there is no perfect solution, and that the only true path to success is one that is dynamic, as no one plan works for every situation.
The second guideline states that per capita income (GDP/capita) should not be the lone measure of progress. Rather, Ramo feels that the sustainability of the economic system and an even distribution of wealth, along with GDP, are important indicators of progress.
The third guideline urges a policy of self-determination, where the less-developed nations use leverage to keep the superpowers in check and assure their own financial sovereignty. This includes not only financial self-determination, but also a shift to the most effective military strategy, which Ramo suggests is more likely to be an asymmetric strategy rather than one that seeks direct confrontation. Unlike the Washington Consensus, which largely ignored questions of geo-politics, Ramo argues—particularly in the Chinese context—that geo-politics and geoeconomics are fundamentally linked.
In 2016, Ramo explained that the Beijing Consensus shows not that "every nation will follow China's development model, but that it legitimizes the notion of particularity as opposed to the universality of a Washington model".
In China Among Chinese elites, the debate over whether a Beijing Consensus or China Model exists is a highly divisive topic. Academic David Daokui Li characterizes Chinese officials and academics as frequently "allergic" to the topic, often viewing it as more appropriate to discuss the "Chinese experience" but premature to view that experience as a "model". Chinese critics of the idea of a China model often observe that China faces various challenges and, from their perspective, it is too early to suggest a coherent and unique model.
Among the major Chinese proponents of a China Model is Zhang Weiwei, who defines the model as a blend of a planned economy with market mechanisms and a top-down governance structure complemented by some grassroots electoral participation. Zhang contrasts the China model with the American approach to democracy, describing the American model as a democracy of a few interest groups led by oligarchs. Zhang's bestseller The China Wave: Rise of a Civilizational State describes his view of a China model.
Xi Jinping states that China does not seek to export its socialist system or its developmental model. According to Xi, developing countries can and should learn from Chinese wisdom and solutions as appropriate.
In 2018, Zhang Weiying, professor at Peking University's National School of Development, argued that China's economic development since 1978 was not due to a distinctive "China model". He added that, "From the western perspective, the 'China model' theory makes China into an alarming outlier, and must lead to conflict between China and the western world", adding that the tariffs and the trade war pursued by U.S. president Donald Trump are an understandable response to perceived antagonism from China: "In the eyes of westerners, the so-called 'China model' is 'state capitalism', which is incompatible with fair trade and world peace and must not be allowed to advance triumphantly without impediment". This speech was removed from the university website after it was widely circulated online. Shen Hong of the Unirule Institute of Economics warned against abandoning Deng Xiaoping's post-1978 reform and opening up, telling the Financial Times: "Without a doubt, reform and opening up eliminated the ideological conflict between China and the US, as well as the whole western world, and gradually brought convergence in terms of values".
Daniel Bell Daniel Bell asserts that the China Model China's strategy is creating free-market capitalism with an authoritarian one-party state that prioritizes political stability. Yet he unveils more complexity to the China Model in his analysis.
On the economic side, he argues that though the flow of labor, capital, and commodities resembles a free-market economy, the government still has a tight grip on key industries, including "utilities, transportation, telecommunications, finance, and the media." He describes China's economic model as a "three-tier enterprise system consisting of large, central government firms; hybrid local and foreign firms; and small-scale capitalism."
On the politics side, though security apparatus is essential to the CCP, CCP has initiated some reforms, unlike the dictatorships in North Korea and the Middle East. He again proposes a three-tier model: "democracy at the bottom, experimentation in the middle, and meritocracy at the top."
He concludes that, since these characteristics are unique to China, it is permissible to call it the China Model.
Frank Fang Frank Fang defends the China Model—mainly, the state structure of One-Party Constitutionalism—in the article "Taking the China Model Seriously: One-Party Constitutionalism and Economic Development," published in Contemporary Chinese Political Thought, 2012.Fang, Frank, "Taking the China Model Seriously: One-Party Constitutionalism and Economic Development."Partly, Fang's formulation of One-Party Constitutionalism is a response to Fukuyama's "End of History" thesis— "the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government." Rather, he posits that each form of state has its weaknesses, and democracy is not the necessarily the one with the fewest; he argues that the China's "dominant-party rulership," which characterizes the China Model, is thriving.