This aerial view taken on June 16, 2023 shows a view of the Binhai New Area in north China’s Tianjin Municipality. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)
The rise of China from widespread poverty over the years to becoming the world’s largest economy in just a few years remains one of the most interesting lessons that Africa, and specifically Kenya, can learn from.
A recent tour of China’s Beijing capital in recent days left some of us in admiration owing to the beautiful skyscrapers that have replaced slums, high-speed rail stitched together that have connected regions and a very powerful manufacturing industry that has transformed millions of lives, something that offers valuable lessons to Kenyans.
China’s growth has shown the true picture of commitment as it has proved that it focuses less on perfect documents and more on measurable delivery, as its development was framed as a shared national goal, not a partisan slogan.
The speed at which China’s development agenda has grown is something that Kenya can emulate, not necessarily copying but adopting some of the positive behaviours to understand why things have moved so fast in China.
While Kenya has, in the recent past, improved its infrastructure by investing in development projects, it is important for it to be aware that sustainable development requires binding long-term plans that survive political transitions so that they can achieve their intended purpose.
The lessons to be learnt from China are many because its development is not confined to its borders and it transcends beyond because it is related to the sustainable development of the rest of the world.
In addition, its approach towards development is also a remarkable phenomenon because it (China) has not adopted the Western “winner-takes-all” model of development but instead emphasized on a win-win approaches as well as emphasized on the fact that sustainable development is not limited to GDP growth but is closely linked to quality of life, including reductions in poverty, stronger cultural ties alongside development, greater social cohesion, and improvements in health, education, housing, and social security.
For instance, the Belt and Road Initiative and the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity are examples of China’s intention to pursue win-win development with other countries.
In his book series titled the Governance of China, Xi Jinping repeatedly identifies fulfilling the people’s aspirations for a better life as China’s primary goal.
Volume II of the book states that “the Chinese Dream is the People’s Dream, Volume IV includes Xi’s speech at the deliberation session of the Inner Mongolia delegation to the Third Session of the 13th National People’s Congress, in which he said that the fundamental goal for the CPC is to give people a better life while Volume V mentions the goal of delivering a better life for each and every Chinese.
Already, Kenya has benefited greatly from its long-standing relationship with china with the most recent infrastructure being done by the Chinese company China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), being the construction of the 175 Kilometre Rironi-Mau Summit Road project, which will transform the existing single carriageway into a four-lane dual carriageway to ease congestion and improve safety on the Northern Corridor.
The road, which is Kenya’s most important trade artery linking Nairobi to Nakuru, Eldoret, Western Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan, is not just a road project; it is an economic, social and regional game changer as it will significantly reduce travel time and improve reliability.
For ordinary Kenyans, it means workers getting home earlier, businesses delivering goods on schedule, emergency services being responded to faster, and drivers will enjoy less stress and fatigue will be reduced.
The other China-supported projects are the Standard Gauge Railway, the Nairobi Expressway, expanded highways and upgraded ports that have reduced travel time, improved logistics and eased congestion.
