China's achievements come from years of tests to see what worked there; those methods may need to be modified to succeed in Africa

China's economic development has had remarkable achievements since the country adopted reform and opening-up policies over 35 years ago.

During this process, developed with frequent exploratory efforts, pilots and trials, China has accumulated a lot of valuable experience in economic reforms and political governance. These are experiences that undoubtedly are valuable for countries in Africa.

As former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping told then-Tanzanian president Julius K. Nyerere in 1985, China's reform is an experiment not only for the country, but also for the world. It is a storehouse of experience for the development of economies less-developed countries.

Thirty years ago, China's GDP per person was lower than that of some African countries, such as Malawi and Burkina Faso. However, within about 30 years, China has brought 300 million people out of absolutely poverty.

With its average annual GDP growth exceeding 9 percent year-on-year, it has become the second-biggest economy in the world after the United States. No other country has witnessed such rapid growth within such a short time. No other country has been able to pull such a large number of people out of poverty and improve people's living standards in such a short time.

China's achievements, proven by statistics and real life, have convinced and been admired by even the pickiest people in Western political circles, academia and the media. Experience gained through reforms has been hailed as the Beijing consensus, the Chinese model or the Chinese way. Measures such as setting up rural enterprises, implementing the household contract responsibility system, building economic special zones and industrial parks, etc, were good test cases for the world.

The Chinese model is attractive to African countries that want to eliminate poverty and replace it with stable economic growth, because those countries share a similar starting point and foundation in development with China.

In the past, Africans have tried to learn from China by developing similar economic models - building, for example, industrial parks and export processing zones in Ethiopia and Tanzania. However, even there may be similarities between African counties and China, they also have their own characteristics, which are more crucial than the similarities. African countries should not copy Chinese models blindly or pin their hopes on quick success.

China's achievements were the result of exploring to find its own way to grow, which fits the nation's conditions and situation, and does not copy any of the growth models in the West.

The most crucial idea in the Chinese model is developing step by step. It encouraged exploration and accumulation, carrying out policies and measures from the easy to the difficult, and digesting all good domestic and overseas theories.

China adopted a trial and error method in implementing the government's reform policies. It tested the policies in some regions and then expanded them to other areas based on the effects.

This process allowed the government to keep the good parts of the measures, and discard or fix the bad ones, which avoided negative effects for the whole country, and minimized any difficulty for disadvantaged people. That also helped reduce societal risks and costs during the reform.

African countries should fully understand their national conditions and economic situation when considering use of the Chinese model.

For those experiences and measures that are a good fit with their own situation, they can learn from them, and develop them further in their own lands. Meanwhile, they should discard those measures that won't work in their countries.

Some inland countries in Africa cannot open coastal economic zones; countries with a high-level of urbanization cannot develop rural or township enterprises; and countries with a high-degree of land privatization have no way to stimulate domestic demand through encouraging the construction of big infrastructure facilities.

In addition, African countries should also focus on stable growth, not eye quick development. They should keep in mind that the opening of an industrial park doesn't mean industrialization has been achieved, and that the operation of an industrial park is not as easy as simply setting aside the land or issuing some preferential policies.

As a pilot, or an experiment, the construction of an industrial park requires joint efforts from all related sides, including the contractors, the land providers, the builders, and many others. It is hard to achieve success based on a single effort.

The author is a senior researcher with the Charhar Institute and a researcher with the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily European Weekly 09/16/2016 page9)