The Chinese development model: A virtuous paradigm?

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Abstract
It is difficult for both analytical and empirical reasons to identify the precise contours of the Post‐Mao Chinese model of development and there is much that remains unclear or contested. However, the general contours suggest a pattern of development increasingly close to the familiar East Asian model of developmental dictatorship, though with distinctive characteristics deriving from China's size and complexity and its state‐socialist heritage. Although evaluations of Chinese developmental performance have tended to be generally positive, there has been a recent escalation of serious problems which threaten to undermine previous achievements, pose questions about the prospects for sustainability and make the task of evaluation more complex and contestable than before. In consequence, conventional arguments about the superiority of the “Asian” approach to economic reform and the trade‐off between economic growth and political liberalization are losing force.