People's Democracy

A FIVE-MEMBER Central Committee delegation of the Communist Party India (Marxist), led by Polit Bureau member Pinarayee Vijayan, visited China for ten days, August 22 to 31, at the invitation of the International Department of the Central Committee the Communist Party of China. B Raghavalu, Noorul Huda, Aghor Barman and K Varadha Rajan were other members of the delegation.

The delegation was received with warm hospitality and held fruitful discussions with the CPC leadership, reflecting the mutual desire to strengthen ties between the two countries, two people and the two parties.

The highlight of the visit was the discussions the CPI(M) delegation held with the CPC leaders --- Dai Bingua, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee; M A Wanpu, vice minister of the same department; Fang Lei of the Policy Research Unit of the department; and Duan Jinlu, vice director, Nationalities Affairs Commission, apart from many others.

After the discussions at Beijing, the delegation visited the provinces of Quing-Dao and Yunnan.

Both through the discussions and during the visits to the provinces, which included two villages and two leading factories, what we saw and experienced is that China, with the highest population in the world, has been fast advancing in various fields during the last two decades.

With a population of 1.3 billion and a population growth of around 1.05 per cent during 1990-2000, China has registered some astounding growth. From 1980 to 2000, per capita GDP growth was more than 8 per cent a year; today their share in world trade is around 7 per cent (for India, 0.7 per cent). In foreign direct investments, China scores over many developing countries. It has been receiving foreign direct investments of over 40 billion dollars each year in the last three years and the total FDI is about 350 billion dollars now. Since 1996, its inflation rate is comparatively low --- 6.0, 0.8, 2.6, 3.0 and 3.5 per cent till 2000. Life expectancy is 71 years and the literacy level is 83 per cent. These two indicators show what China has achieved in a little more than half a century.

Addressing on the 80th anniversary of the CPC, Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said:

According to the leaders with whom we had discussions, while upholding their country’s socialist orientation, the Chinese have made bold explorations and practice and pushed forward the reforms in economic and political structures and other areas, over the past 20-plus years. This policy of reforms, generally proved to be correct and coming under the aegis of "socialist market economy," with various modes of production, is being carried out to develop the productive forces, enhance the comprehensive national strength, and improve the people’s living standards. In this way, it reflects the superiority of socialism over capitalism.

Xiaoquing village we visited in Yi autonomous county (like our district) in Lunan province, and another village in Quing-Dao province showed us the great improvement in the standard of life of the rural people. We visited a few houses in these villages. In Xiaoquing village with 134 families and a population of 604, all the families have their own concrete built houses, over 1200 square feet on an average. These are quite good modern houses with colour TV, sofa sets, washing machines, telephones, etc.

We saw a primary school and a fairly big cultural centre in the village. At the health clinic in the village, very nominal fees are charged for medical treatment, much of which is subsidised by the state. We also saw two public lavatories in the village.

There was an interesting information board in the office of the village head, depicting the names of the heads of the houses and the medals they have received in the year for good work. Some have received four medals, some three, two and so on. The list of families who had been fined for their bad behaviour was also there.

When we inquired details, bad behaviour included quarrelling with the neighbours, not following the rules of the village, etc, for which they would be fined. A family having earned a medal for its behaviour, would have its medals taken back for any wrong thing. One such list was also there.

In front of the door of every house, the number of medals they received is also written on a special plate. According to the village head who accompanied us, there were no crimes like thefts, atrocities or murders recorded in that village for the past several years. And there was no unemployed person, male or female, in the village.

Thanks to the decade long practice of village self-governance, China’s villages are able to select their own magistrates and dismiss unqualified officials who fail to do their duty. China introduced, among villages across the nation, the self-governing system in 1988. Under the system, local administrative officials are elected by the residents. Previously, village officials were appointed by the county-level governments. This new system, according to the village head, created great enthusiasm among the villagers. No less than 90 per cent of the people participate in these elections.

The average monthly income in the village was stated to be 600 yuan per family, and it was one of the backward villages with minority ethnic group (like our Adivasis)! The average income in the villages in coastal districts is more than double.

The peoples commune system, in practice earlier, was abolished after 1976. Now though the entire land belongs to the state. It is leased out to the local villagers for a particular period. The lease amount changes according to the region and crops. The state supplies electricity, seeds and other inputs at subsidised rates, and also arranges for purchasing foodgrains and other items at the price fixed by the government. They call this "the contract household responsibility system."

No private trading is allowed in the agricultural sector; it is considered an offence. Besides, there are several state owned farms of a large size in each village where the local people are taken as wage labourers. We were told that as the people of the village are of a minority ethnic group, they can have two children per family against the country norm of one child. Families having more than the allowed number have to pay a fine to the government.

Farmers getting the land on lease pay a tax for the general development of the village. This changes according to the fertility of lands, crops grown, etc.

The local party unit secretary of the village, a woman of the minority ethnic group, informed us that there were 17 party members in the village. With a cellphone in her hand, she was an interesting sight to see.

Quing-das region, a coastal district, is a new economic zone with fast developing industries. We visited one of the leading companies producing TVs, fridges, etc, in Quing-das, besides a state owned beer-producing unit.

The Haier company which we visited in Quing-das controls more than 30 per cent of the market in refrigerators, washing machines and freezers in China. It is also a big maker of TV sets, air-conditioners and mobile phones. The company’s chief executive officer, Zang Ruimin, told us that Haier’s revenue hit nearly 5 billion dollars last year, up 51 per cent from 1999.

Haier, a collective enterprise that belongs to all its employees, is expected to exceed the US in the white goods business in volume --- 55 million units versus 51 million units --- over next two years. Zang Ruimin also leads a network of Communist Party members who work at Haier. This may sound unusual in other countries, but not in China.

We noted that the prices of colour TV sets and other electronic goods are much lower than the prices in India by around 40 to 50 per cent. The same is the case with fans, tyres, primary cells, batteries, footwear, leather, etc.

When we described our negative experience with the WTO, both in industry and agriculture, China’s leaders accepted that the US and EU are trying to dominate the world economy through the WTO and other organisations. Yet they expressed the hope that China, with its advantages in prices, could compete with these countries in the world market.

The special efforts the Chinese government is making to settle the ethnic problem, and its special concentration on the development of minority groups, can be well witnessed in the Yunnan province we visited. China, which has 55 minority groups, is allotting special funds for the education and other welfare schemes for these minority ethnic groups. Students from these groups are given grace marks to enter the higher education courses. Yunnan province, which has 51 ethnic groups, had an 85 per cent illiteracy rate in the 1950s. But with these facilities, it was able to reduce this rate to 25.4 per cent in 1990s. Special preference for minority ethnic groups is there at various levels of the Party and government administration, including their representation in the People’s Congress.

Two important aspects we noted were the special place for women in society and the general self-respect the Chinese maintain. The literacy level of women is, we were told, as good as men’s. Wherever we went, be it five star hotels, shops, factories, tourist spots, we were able to see a large number of women employees. According to CPC leaders, except in the police and army, the women’s employment at various levels is the same as men’s.

One interesting information about foreign investment in China relates to the origin of the FDI in China. According to the China Statistical Yearbook, the major FDI inflows are through Hong Kong. Ethnic Chinese from Singapore and Taiwan too directly invested in China. According to latest information, the Chinese in Taiwan are going to invest much more in China in the coming years. The following data show the origin of FDI in China in 1999 (the figures represent percentage of total FDI in the country):

The above details show that 68 per cent of China’s FDI originated from Asian countries. A major portion of foreign direct investment in China (70 per cent according to the UN Investment Report) goes into equipment and technology. They have clearly realised that this would enable them to achieve competitiveness in the international market.

About the ill effects of the opening up and recent reforms, the leaders we met told us that they are conscious of these side effects, are watching them carefully, and taking action then and there.

Corruption at various levels, though to a small extent, is dealt with seriously. Benefits given by the state for victimised workers are increased. Periodic reviews of labour law regulations are carried out. These are some of the aspects they mentioned about the ill effects and the remedial measures taken.

Thus our delegation’s visit to China was an experience and helped us to gather more information about China’s growth in various fields. The visit left on us a positive impression of China’s progress in various fields. As they are conscious about the tendencies alien to socialism, we can well hope that they will combat these tendencies and definitely prove the superiority of the socialist system over capitalism.