Economics & Finance / Macroeconomics / Economic Development & Transition

Unpacking China s Growth -- How Unique Is the Chinese Model?

Yasheng Huang

How Unique Is the Chinese Model? In this book, Professor Yasheng Huang challenges the conventional view of the uniqueness of the “China Model”. He argues that China’s past growth was not based on some unreplicable political myth, but rather followed universal economic laws. Through a comparative analysis of development in China and India, he points out that China’s early “East Asian Model”—rooted in rural reform and the rise of the private sector—was the most successful. In contrast, the later “Shanghai Model,” which relied excessively on government intervention, large-scale infrastructure, and foreign investment, has gradually revealed risks of “Latin Americanization”, such as resource misallocation and a widening wealth gap. The author emphasizes that China’s future sustained prosperity lies not in strengthening state-led macro control, but in committing to the construction of the rule of law, the internal opening of the financial sector, and the protection of civil rights, thereby returning to a healthy path of “wealth stored in the people.” By analyzing the pitfalls of urbanization and barriers imposed by the household registration system, this book calls for gradual political institutional reform to resolve deep-seated structural contradictions, including insufficient domestic demand and a lack of innovation.