Learning from China

I feel that I’ve been to harsh to the Chinese last week. You know, when you spend all dayswith peasants, who wouldn’t be?

Yes, European NGOs have something  to teach to China but Europeans also have something to learn from China.

The usual stereotype defines China as ‘the warehouse of the world’; everything is produced at a cheap price. Everything is exported, not invented.

It portrays China as the land of efficient workers: executives but not leaders. Are we sure we haven’t been left behind again?

I had to change my mind when I learnt from CCTV English (Yes – the national boradcaster has a channel in English) that the fastest train in the world is in the process of experimentation. It’s neither France nor Japan. It’s China.

The train will combine the magnet technology developed by the Germans with a vacuum tunnel. The train wil go faster than 200Km/h; double the speed than the existing fastest trains in the world.

I was told as I was in Chengdu, a provincial capital not very fasinating – pretty boring actually. However, the city counts more skyscrapers than London and Berlin put together. Kids learn English from watching  CCTV. I never got lost in translation because an adolescent would come and help.

China might be populated by peasants but they all work hard to get ready to deal with the world. I’m not sure that Westerners are working as hard.

Moreover, there are incredible places like Hong Kong which operate as connecting points between mainland China and the rest of the world. It’s not just heaven for shopping – a cross road between Asia and the West – but really a space in between for foreigners as I am to be guided in understanding the continent. Does Europe have anything similar?

The final blow was last week’s statement from the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, who called for citizens’ involvement in politics as well as in all the other fields to avoid stagnation and renew innovation.

Governement actually realizes the limits and potentials of civil society at the same time during the relief operations for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake – an hour drive from Chengdu. It’s known that Japan rediscovered civil society after the Kobe earthquake. Is this a turning point for China?

Ok we might criticize the peasants for their manners but we must respect what China has achieved in the last 50 years – starting with getting rid of us! – and the need to engage with them. There is no global governance and solutions to global challenges without the full commitment of the Chinese. This is the message we must deliver!

I’m doing my part: I’ve already started discussing an exchange project for civil society and small business leaders between Europe and China.