IN his seminal work, How Asia Works? Success And Failures In The World’s Most Dynamic Region, Joe Studwell writes that in the early 1950s China was not only agriculturally inefficient, but also internationally alienated in terms of trade.

The Chinese policy of “collectivisation of farming” was all that the Chinese knew in the communist state. The rise in unemployment and poverty along with a surge in population was unstoppable and seemed to be almost impossible to handle.

It was then that the visionary Deng Xioaping (1978-89) appeared on the political horizon of the country. He observed the state of the affairs through both the real and ideal prisms. He wanted change. To that end, Deng Xiaoping introduced land reforms and opened trade with foreign states.

Besides, one-child policy helped stem the burgeoning population growth. Preservation of socialism with a slight modification surely worked wonders for the Chinese.

Pakistan, an all-weather friend of China, must take a leaf out of the Chinese book by introducing the above-mentioned reforms. Pakistan desperately needs land reforms, population control policy and sound relations with regional and international governments.

Khemchand
Sakrand

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2021