Throughtheeyesofyoungcivilservantsfromdevelopingcountries
TextbyLaurentHou
StudyingChina’sDevelopment
ThecityofShangluoanditssurroundingvillagesreceivedavisitfromstudentsoftheInternationalMasterofBusinessAdministration(IMBA)programatBeijingNormalUniversity.MostofthesestudentsarecivilservantsfromotherdevelopingcountrieswhocametoChinatostudyitsdevelopmentmodes.ThehopeisthattheirstudiesofChinahelpthemcontributetotheeconomicandsocialsituationintheirhomecountries.NuredineOumerMohammedfromEthiopiaputitthisway:“Chinaexperienceddecadesofveryfasteconomicgrowththatmadeitoneofthemostadvanceddevelopingcountries.Therefore,therearemanythingswecanlearnhere.We’reseeingChineseworkersandtechnologytransfersfromChinainEthiopia,soIreallywantedtoexperiencethiscountrydirectly.”
Theprogramiscomposedofstudentsfrommorethantwentycountriesatvariousdevelopmentlevels.TheyallhaveauniquepointofviewonChinaandwereexcitedtoexploreaplacelikeShangluo,whichisincrediblydifferentfromBeijingwheretheyspentmostoftheirtime.Theyhadonlyexperiencedoneofthemostdevelopedplacesofthecountry:AccordingtoHDI(HumanDevelopmentIndex)statistics,Beijing’sresidentsarecomparabletotheSwiss.Shangluopresentedanewandinterestingsituationforthestudents:Theycouldvisitpoorvillages,butalsoseehowanareadevelopedtremendouslyovertwentyyearsresultinginstronginfrastructureandindustrialization.Theycouldalsoseethatsomechallengesremainandwitnessthegovernment’seffortstomeetthem.