Chapter 3 Chapter 1 The Rise of China from a Global Perspective

Many Chinese who returned from their visit to Bangkok, Thailand today dismissed Bangkok as nothing more than a bustling and chaotic city.But from the moment I arrived at Bangkok International Airport on April 15, 1983, I was "shocked" from time to time: I saw a modern busy airport for the first time, with Boeing airliners from all over the world constantly landing and taking off, while the ground dispatch It looked so orderly again, the waiting hall was bright and spacious, and the airport stores were full of goods, even more magnificent than the most beautiful Wangfujing arts and crafts store in Beijing at that time.At that time, Beijing Capital Airport was much worse than Bangkok International Airport.

This is the place where I first saw a highway with cars flying by.It was the first time I saw a supermarket that was still open at 9:00 p.m., with all kinds of goods. The main street was still full of traffic and bustling at 10:00 p.m.For the first time, I felt what service is: the waiters in the store are so friendly and polite, even if you just pass by the door and look around, the waiters will come forward and ask you with a smile if you need help.In Beijing at that time, I had never seen such a service attitude.Thailand is not only good in service, but also high in efficiency: you order a suit today, and it will be ready tomorrow, and it will be delivered to your hotel at an inexpensive price.

The prosperity of Bangkok makes me, a young student from Shanghai, deeply disturbed.After all, when Shanghai became the largest city in the Far East in the 1930s, Bangkok might not be much better than a county in China.Later I also visited Malaysia, Singapore and Japan, each of which was more modern than the other, and Thailand was still the most backward among them.Thinking of Deng Xiaoping's intensive visits to these four countries during the two months from October to November 1978, I can imagine the shock he felt at that time.When he went to France for a work-study program, Deng once passed by Singapore. Now seeing the great changes in Singapore with his own eyes, how can he not be filled with emotion?He later said many times that China should learn from Singapore and do better than Singapore.After visiting Nissan Motor Company in Japan, he said: "I understand what modernization is."

Soon after returning from Thailand, I reported to the translation office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The first important foreign affairs event I participated in was to receive Imelda Marcos, wife of President Marcos of the Philippines.Mrs. Marcos first sent an advance team to Beijing to prepare for her visit.Because Mrs. Ma is a world-renowned procurement expert, all members of her advance team are procurement experts.They simply joked and called themselves an advance shopping group.They always asked where the best place to shop in Beijing, and the concierge always recommended Beijing Friendship Store, which was one of the few foreign-related stores in Beijing at that time, so the Filipino advance team soon had a catchphrase, "Friendship Store again?" Friendship Store?)” “Are there other stores in Beijing besides Friendship Store?” They asked me several times.

time flies. More than 20 years have passed.Today I can say that in the process of modernization, China has made great strides ahead of countries like Thailand and the Philippines.I later visited Thailand no less than 10 times. The gap between Thailand and China gradually became apparent, and the gap between Bangkok, Shanghai and Beijing also widened significantly. The military coup in Thailand in 2006 brought uncertainties to the country's economic and social development.However, there are still many places in Thailand that China can learn from. For example, the service quality of Thai Airways is well-known all over the world.

I also visited the Philippines in 2005. I saw that the shantytowns in Manila stretched continuously. If you look at it from the outside, the urban appearance of Manila is at least 20 years behind Beijing today.Over the past 20 years, the Philippines has continued to engage in politics. The so-called "people's power" has been wave after wave. It has changed 5 presidents and experienced various mutinies. However, the economy of the Philippines as a whole has experienced limited growth in the past 20 years. , people's lives have rarely improved. Of course, Beijing's development is also a bit too fast.This traditional Chinese classic city has lost too many features that should not have been lost.This kind of loss will become more and more regrettable as time goes by and as people's cultural standards continue to improve.This also seems to reflect the achievements and problems of our development model in the past 30 years.

But, to be fair, no matter how many deficiencies and problems there are in our development model, in the past 30 years, China has devoted itself to reform, opening up, and modernization, and the entire face of China has undergone breathtaking changes.For example, eradicating poverty has always been a very difficult problem in the international arena, but China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in just nearly 20 years, becoming the first country in the world to halve the poverty population ahead of schedule. "Millennium Development Goals" of developing countries, and a full 12 years ahead of schedule.Although it is still a relatively low level of poverty alleviation, but you only need to go to any typical developing country to look, most of the countries have experienced political turmoil, stagnant economic and social development, and people's living standards have not declined in the past 30 years. up.