By Nik Ogbulie
One important observation that can be made about China’s impressive socioeconomic advancements, especially in the areas of technological and industrial developments, is that they are activities rooted in the grass roots. Right from the country’s formative years, the average rural Chinese has been actively engaged in tapping and tilling the earth in line with the command of his creator, who commanded him to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.
John Zhang , a tour guide in Beijing told me that, “with zeal and commitment, the average Chinese has never ceased from implementing the mandate of subduing the earth as commanded by his creator. He never reneged on this because he believes he has what it takes to conquer and rule his world. It is in his DNA; creativity and innovation. ”
To put it in another way, the zeal for creativit
y and innovation in the Chinese man is deeply rooted in his country’s philosophical and cultural heritage, particularly Confucianism and Taoism, which emphasize harmony, holistic thinking, and adaptability.
From the foregoing backdrop, therefore, it can be said, without any doubts, that China’s industrial revolution, particularly during its initial phase, started from the rural areas. The growth of Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs) in the countryside played a crucial role in the country’s economic transformation and early industrialization. Hence, it will not be immodest to attribute the rapid technological and industrial developments of China to its citizens during its formative years as a nation-state, because from the historical records, it has been copiously recorded that the ancient China’s contributions to technological and industrial developments laid a crucial foundation for later advancements, with innovations like the compass, gunpowder, papermaking, and printing; emerging long before their widespread adoption elsewhere.
These inventions, alongside advancements in metallurgy, agriculture, and water management, highlight a history of ingenuity that shaped not only China but also influenced the world.
Several Chinese dynasties that existed before the modern times are known to have significantly shaped the trajectory of technological and industrial development of the country, with the Song dynasty often cited as the period most closely resembling an industrial revolution well before the European one. Although, no single dynasty is said to have achieved a full industrial revolution, the Song dynasty’s advancements in various fields, coupled with the Han and Tang dynasties’ foundational innovations, laid the groundwork for later progress that is being witnessed today.
The Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) era witnessed significant advancements in industries like iron and steel production, coal mining, and the use of water wheels for powering bellows in iron smelting. The government encouraged private enterprise, leading to increased production in various sectors. It also initiated the invention of the mechanical clock, movable type printing, and advancements in shipbuilding. Many historians consider the Song dynasty’s scientific and technological advancements to be comparable to the European Renaissance.
Following on the achievements of Song in laying the groundwork for future technological development with innovations in agriculture, metallurgy, and the invention of paper is the Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) ,which initiated the development of the mouldboard plough and seed drill, significantly increasing agricultural yields. In metallurgical advancement, the initiative brought about the enhancement in smelting techniques and used water-powered bellows. The invention of paper provided a cheaper and more accessible writing medium.
Continuing with the innovation, the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) built upon the Han’s achievements, further developing technologies like the magnetic compass, seismograph, and rockets. Trade flourished both internally and with other regions, contributing to economic growth and technological exchange. The Tang Dynasty reunited a large area of China after a period of division, creating a stable environment for technological and economic development.
Other dynasties that also laid the groundwork for China’s advancements include the Zhou Dynasty, which introduced iron, ox-drawn ploughs, and large-scale irrigation projects; the Qin Dynasty, which unified China and initiated the construction of the Great Wall and the Yuan Dynasty that made innovative contributions to science, technology, and culture. The Ming Dynasty, while not known for major technological leaps, expanded literature printing, while the Qing Dynasty experienced a period of stagnation in terms of technological innovation, despite initial efforts at modernization.
So, while no single dynasty can be said to have achieved a full-fledged industrial revolution in China, the Song Dynasty, in particular, demonstrated significant advancements that make it a compelling case for an early industrial revolution. The Han and Tang dynasties also played crucial roles in laying the foundation for later technological and industrial development in China.
In general, China advancement can be traced to a combination of factors. Among them are its vast internal market, strategic industrial policies, and gradual opening to international trade. The key drivers include market-oriented reforms, attracting foreign investment, and leveraging its large labour force. Furthermore, industrial clustering in specific regions has facilitated knowledge sharing and efficiency gains.
China’s modern economic reforms, beginning in 1978, shifted the country away from a centrally planned economy towards a more market-based system, fostering competition and innovation. The Reform and Opening Up policy enabled China to attract foreign investment, integrate into global supply chains, and access advanced technologies. This period often referred to as the “Dengist” or “post-Mao” era, after Deng Xiaoping, who initiated the transformation, saw rapid growth averaging over 9.5% annually, with significant improvements in living standards and a substantial reduction in poverty.
That trajectory has massively improved as China controls about 12.5% of global trade against United States 10%, while it also becomes the richest economy in the world, closely followed by Japan. The reasons cannot be divorced from its very strong technological background.The synergy has even continued to expand and that can be seen in all activities in this modern circumstance. The match to wealth and global trade control powered by technology can be see from the fact that it has innovated all areas that today’s world needs, such as instrumentation, smart technology, telecommunications, robotics,nuclear physics, aeronautics ,thermo dynamics and even human capital reengineering.
The government plays a crucial role in guiding industrial development through targeted policies, such as the creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to attract foreign investment and the development of infrastructure in interior regions. The concentration of industries in specific regions, like the textile and tobacco industries in the plains of Manchuria and base industries in Northeastern China, fostered knowledge spillovers and enhanced productivity.
China’s large population provided a substantial domestic market for its industries, facilitating economies of scale and driving production. The country’s vast and relatively low-cost labour force was also a key advantage, particularly in labour-intensive industries.
Another contributory factor in China’s advancement is the initiative of phased approach to development. Its industrialization has been a gradual process, moving from light industries to more complex, capital-intensive sectors, with a focus on upgrading technological capabilities.
While the state-owned sector played a role in the country’s industrialization, it also presented challenges for upgrading, highlighting the importance of on-going reforms. The industrial development has been uneven across regions, with coastal areas initially experiencing faster growth, but interior regions also benefit from infrastructure development and industrial policies.
Two factors have been consistently important: openness to the international economy and domestic market liberalization. For a latecomer like China, modern industry initially has greatest success in more labour-intensive products requiring only modest capabilities. From the 1980s to the 1990s, the government of the People’s Republic of China successively launched the 863 Programme and the “Strategy to Revitalize the Country through Science and Education”, which greatly promoted the development of the country’s science and technological institutions.
Several provinces in China are known to have played pivotal roles in the country’s technological and industrial advancements. Guangdong, particularly the cities of Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Dongguan, is a major manufacturing hub, especially for electronics, and is often referred to as the “Chinese Silicon Valley”. Beijing, with Zhongguancun, a district that is also known as “China’s Silicon Valley,” is another key area for technological innovation and research. Additionally, Shanghai and Jiangsu have also contributed significantly to China’s industrial landscape.
For a first visitor to China who is interested in knowledge economics will obviously see the story of China to be akin to the proverbial story of the blind man and the elephant or the fabled narrative of the tortoise and the giraffe, both indicating the marvels in the world of creativity. This becomes very inexplicable when seen from the point of every activity being seriously entangled by emerging new and unseen technological narratives.
Why won’t one wonder about developments when the fast hands of technology have become the driving force for any activity to the extent that technology becomes legion and raison d’entre even among the under-aged. What the development is telling us is that a new world where China defines the way forward has emerged, where only catch-ups such as sanctions and neo-expansionism or pseudo-alliances become mere modules.
A world where technologies have evolved to define importance of the only 10 surviving Pandas in the world cannot be taken for granted. This explains why any person in the country must make Panda ‘a must see creature and it’s museum an apple chart’ in his tourism card. Technology has further made a 380 kilometer visit be accomplished under two hours with a supersonic land transport. How do you enter a massive outlay of a sea bay functioning as a wharf with many vessels and containers without confronting a sea of human traffic in the workplace . Talk of automation and you give the creativity to compact technology, skill, discipline and leadership. Why would iron and cabled determine the location of containers and take them to the right location of the vessels just because someone sits behind a box to just hit some buttons? It’s all about technology. These are better seen as triumph of mission driven by patriotism. At the end of the day, these developments do nut just drive industrial development, they also drive another arm of a competing development called Tourism which generates resources bigger than the GDP of the largest oil producing country in the world.
Between technology and tourism lies the reason why the elasticity of the Chinese economy remains largely preposterous to envy and a marvel why it draws more awe and fear across the globe, even though it still looks good to emerge as the grace to the world.
My trip to China may be a scatch on the surface of its world, but it has explored the power of creativity and supremacy of consistency and fury.
It may not be any over generalisation if one says that Chinese technological prowess may become as awesome as the creative scandal that was the emergence of The Great Wall of China. The technology it applied in building a subsea highway can be applied in creating anything. Just name the idea!!
The ancient China laid the groundwork for progress by making numerous significant contributions to advancements in technology and culture that impacted the world.
