Tag: CICPEC

Saeed Afridi | China’s rise has been attributed to the successful implementation of its ‘Dual Track’ transition policy based on gradual, incremental and near-constant reform of its economic sector in conjunction with Five Year Plans. The is Dual Track policy emphasised on social and economic reform; without any corresponding political reform. It started under Deng Xiaoping post-1976, based on the Zhou Enlai’s “Four Modernisation Plan” and has seen additional changes with every Five Year Plan (FYP). The National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China (NDRC) has played an instrumental role in China’s development through these Five Year Plans. China’s Regions and Economic Development Economic and social reforms proposed by the NDRC in its 5th and 6th FYPs, from 1978 till 1984, have formed the bedrock of subsequent economic development. China was divided into three zones, Coastal, Central and Western. The coastal zone became the immediate focus of economic reforms through “Special Economic Zones”, and an “Open Door” policy to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and creating internal economic corridors. An initiative that links CPEC, BCIMEC and CCWAEC with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) should have been, and now must be, the crux of Pakistan’s regional economic goals, much like Kazakhstan’s efforts. The 7th and 8th FYPs (1984-1993) built upon this success by introducing internal market reforms and began China’s transformation into a localised Socialist market economy while Jian Zemin’s subsequent 9th and 10th FYPs went further and introduced large-scale privatisation within provinces, an expansion of successful policies into the Central Region and laying the groundwork for future expansion within the Western Region. By 2006, the rapid economic development of the Coastal and Central regions had created a huge disparity in the economic and social well being within China. The focus since the 11th and 12th FYPs has been the re-orientation of China’s “Dual Track” reform towards China’s Western region. The development of China’s Western Region as an economic zone required access to economically advantageous primary resources and the development of market access for the export of goods.