China’s Experience Works in Cambodia

Tan Xingyu

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Chinas reform and opening up. Over the past 40 years， China has evolved from an impoverished agricultural country into a middle-income country with a sound national economic system. Statistics show that reform and opening up has led to an average annual growth rate of 9.6 percent and an average annual foreign trade growth rate of 14.8 percent. Chinas gross domestic product （GDP） per capita was US$155 in 1978， and by 2017 the number reached US$8，848. Given its huge population， China has accomplished a miracle in the history of human development.

Chinese economist Justin Yifu Lin believes reform and opening up has been the core of Chinas remarkable success in economic development. Economic reforms introduced a market economy and removed protectionist policies， enabling the market to play a more decisive role in resource allocation. At the same time， the opening up of the country to the outside world helped China seize opportunity for industrial restructuring in the context of impending globalization， propelling it to transform from an agricultural country to a modernized manufacturing nation.

Global Significance

Chinas experience with its successful reform and opening up is tremendously significant as a reference for other developing countries. Former Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew stated in his 2013 book Lee Kuan Yew： The Grand Masters Insights on China， the United States， and the World that “China is the worlds fastest developing nation， growing at rates unimaginable 50 years ago， a dramatic transformation no one predicted.” The success of Chinas economic reform policies illustrates that developing countries can explore and find a development path that suits their national conditions and differs from the Western-style modernization.

In fact， Chinas success not only provides valuable data for developing countries， but has also been fueling development of the world economy. According to statistics， China is now the largest trading partner of more than 120 countries in the world， and its foreign direct investment reached US$190 billion in 2016. Over the past several years， China has contributed over 30 percent to world economic growth. China has shown by example that in an open market such as China， all countries in the world can obtain resources for development， including capital， technology and market access.

As a world power grown from scratch， China shows great empathy for other developing countries and consistently offers to assist them in promoting economic growth. In 1964， the Chinese government declared eight principles to govern foreign economic and technical assistance including equality， mutual benefits， mutual respect for sovereignty， no conditions attached nor privileges and the provision of interest-free or concessional loans. These have been solidified as the basic principles for Chinas foreign aid. Since the turn of the century， promoting mutually beneficial cooperation and common development has risen as a new feature of Chinas foreign aid policy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed building the Silk Road Economic Belt， the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank during subsequent visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia in September and October 2013. Then in November 2014， President Xi announced that China would contribute US$40 billion to establish the Silk Road Fund to provide financial support in infrastructure， resources， industrial cooperation and other projects to countries along the Belt and Road. In March of this year， China set up a new international development cooperation agency to enhance strategic planning and coordination of foreign aid and make greater contributions to the world.

Chinas Working Experience

China and Cambodia are good neighbors and have set a pristine example of bilateral cooperation between developing countries.

Cambodia has been working hard to promote its national development amid the context of global economic growth. What China has learned from its own economic growth plays an important role in its aid to Cambodia. The history of China providing assistance to Cambodia can be traced back to the 1950s， and financial support has grown stronger since 2000 when Cambodia welcomed an increasingly stable domestic situation and the relationship between the two countries jumped forward. The Chinese government offered a total of US$5.57 million aid to Cambodia in 2003， which rose to US$260 million in 2009， making China the largest partner in Cambodias development.

In its efforts to boost economic growth， Cambodia has drawn on Chinas experience and greatly benefited from it.

The first step was to improve infrastructure. A Chinese saying goes， “If you want to get rich， build a road first.” Chinas aid to Cambodia has primarily been allocated to power， transportation and agricultural infrastructure. About a third of national highways and 80 percent of bridges in Cambodia were built with aid from the Chinese government. The output of Cambodias hydroelectric facilities increased by 22.5 percent to 215.6 million kilowatt-hours in 2015， and all of the increased volume was generated by Chinese-funded projects. During the same period， the countrys coal-fired power plants provided 2.13 million kilowatt-hours of electricity， a rise of 182.2 percent， and projects funded by Chinese enterprises contributed 69.2 percent of the output.

According to past experience， the second step is boosting the manufacturing industry. Thanks to its abundant human resources， Cambodia has achieved concrete results in the development of labor-intensive industries. Export volume of its apparel manufacturing increased from US$80 million in 1996 to US$6.8 billion in 2015. From Budapest to Baltimore， products made in Cambodia have become an inextricable piece of daily life around the world. The thriving manufacturing industry has improved Cambodian living standards and laid a solid foundation for the economic development of the entire country.

The third step is building a special economic zone. Through concerted efforts of the Chinese and Cambodian governments， the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone （SSEZ） became one of Chinas first overseas economic and trade cooperation zones in 2006. The development of the SSEZ integrated Chinas experience in building industrial parks with Cambodian characteristics. In a signed editorial published during his visit to Cambodia in October 2016， President Xi pointed out that “the booming Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone testifies to how fruitful China-Cambodia cooperation can be.” Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed with President Xi， predicting the SSEZ to develop as a parallel to Chinas Shenzhen city.

A Cambodian saying stresses that where there is a way， there is hope. After standing together for 60 years， China and Cambodia are moving along a road to prosperity. Chinas reform and opening up will help Cambodia develop faster and ensure China-Cambodia relations enjoy a promising future.