Understanding China’s Reforms & Opening Up Era: Lessons for Pakistan and Way Forward

China Study Centre, COMSATS University Islamabad organized a round table on “Understanding Reforms & Opening Up Era – Lessons for Pakistan and Way Forward” on August 31,2022. The leaders from China Study Centres, Area Study Centres and Confucius Institutes around the country participated as discussants in the round table.

The program started with the recitation of Holy Quran, followed by the national anthems of both countries. The inaugural session started with the keynote speeches of Prof. Zhang Dao Jian from Beijing Language and Cultural University, China, Prof. Ashfaq H. Khan,Dean, S3H, National University of Science and Technology, and Mr. Mustafa Haider Syed, Executive Director, Pak-China Institute.

The keynote speakers highlighted that the political instability, economic turmoil, and national identity crisis are the impediments in the development of Pakistan. The country should invest in the identity building process in order to create more common communities. The greater interest by the Pakistani people in China Pakistan Economic Corridor is required in order to obtain greater benefit and to make the dwindling number of Special Economic Zones set up by China successfully. Pakistan can learn from the three core factors of policy continuity, political stability and the internal harmony that are intrinsic to China’s success in tackling the key issues of unskilled labor, poverty and unemployment.

The participants of the round table included, Dr Liaqat Ali Shah, Head of Policy division, China Pakistan Economic Corridor Center of Excellence, Dr. Zaheer Ahmed, Director, Confucius Institute, University of Faisalabad, Prof. Dr. Rana Eijaz Ahmed, Director, Confucius Institute, University of the Punjab, Dr Nasir Afghan, Director, China Study Centre, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Dr. M. Nasiruddin Khan, Director, Confucius Institute, Karachi University, Prof. Dr. Zahid Anwar, Director, Area Study Center, University of Peshawar,Brig. (R) Dr. Waseem Ishaque, Director, Area Study Center, National University of Modern Languages, Commodore. (R) Junaid Latif, Director, Pakistan China Study Research Center, Bahria University, Islamabad, Dr. Sikander Shah, Director, Center of Chinese Legal Studies, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Dr. Fazal Ur Rehman, Director, China Study Center, University of Sargodha, Muhamad Asif Noor, Centre for Belt & Road Initiative and China Studies, Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies, Prof. Dr. Khalid Manzoor, University of Central Punjab, Dr. Fakir Muhammad, Director, China Study Center, Karakoram International University, Dr. Sarfraz Khan, Director, Center for Caucasian Central Asian, Chinese and Pakistan Studies, University of Swat, and Dr. Kamran Taj, Director, China Study Center, University of Balochistan.

There was diverse set of opinions put forward by all the experts. The main areas of focus included agriculture, industrialization, defense, science and technology. There is also a need to flourish smart agriculture to ensure sustainable growth of economy through cooperation with China. Some suggested that China had a people centric approach and valued nationalism. That Pakistan ought to adopt a similar program and should work to make use of the Special Economic Zones set up in lieu of China under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor agreement. The roundtable emphasized that China has moved from a traditional state to the second largest economy due to its continuous hard work. The similar kind of success is only possible if Pakistan is willing to work hard and to make changes that might be very uncomfortable in the short term. The political instability, economic turmoil, and national identity crisis are the main impediments in development of Pakistan. The country should invest in the identity building process, increase interest of Pakistani people in China Pakistan Economic Corridor and the benefits associated with it. Pakistan can learn from the three core factors of policy continuity, political stability and the internal harmony. These factors were termed as intrinsic to China’s success by the discussants of the round table.

Dr. Tahir Mumtaz Awan, Head, China Study Center, Comsats UniversityIslamabad thanked all the discussants and touched upon the success of China over the last three decades through sharing statistics from the Deng Xiaoping era till date. He further talked about how China eradicated urban poverty and developed over time. The remarkable achievements in the fields of artificial intelligence and information technology platforms was also among his key discussion points. Talking about Pakistan, he emphasized the low levels of technological development and argued that it is only through technology and its best possible use long run country development is possible.